Prime Minister I.K. Gujral's victory from the Jullundur Lok Sabha constituency, where he is pitted against the Congress candidate, Umrao Singh, now appears certain.Though contesting as the Janata Dal candidate, the seat has been left for him by the Akali Dal as a token of gratitude for waiving the loan of Rs 8,500 crore Punjab owed to the Centre.
This apart, the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's prestige is also at stake here who is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the Prime Minister's victory.
His prospects have been further boosted with BJP, which initially opposed its alliance partner's decision and even thought of putting up a candidate against him, deciding to work for the defeat of the Congress which it considers its main target after Sonia's entry on the scene.
The Left parties, who have their pockets of influence in the constituency, along with Akali splinter groups like Akali Dal (Democratic), Akali Dal (Mann) and Akali Dal (Panthic) are also backing him.
Gujral, however, has nottaken any chances. He has camped in the area for ten days and toured all the nine assembly segments falling in the constituency, addressing a number of meetings and establishing personal rapport with the voters, not bothering about security. His whole family has also been here and supervising the campaign.
Having the advantage of being the son of the soil ``Punjab da puttar'', the voters seem to be enthusiastic about electing the first Punjabi Prime Minister of the country from the constituency.
Gujral, who had earlier also been elected from here in 1989, has also tried to project this image. He has been saying that he is not new to Jalandhar and that his family had settled here after partition and that he started his public life from the city and has constantly worked for its development.
The faction-ridden Congress has not been able to measure upto Gujral's challenge though the party had won the seat nine times out of the 11 Lok Sabha elections.
Partymen opposed to Pradesh Congress chief, RajinderKaur Bhattal, like former minister, Avtar Henri, and Mohinder Singh, have not come out in open support of Umrao Singh.
Moreover, though the party has an alliance with the BSP, the BSP supremo, Kanshi Ram, is reportedly supporting Gujral. Kanshi Ram had advised the Congress not to put up the candidate against Gujral.
Jalandhar constituency has 1,112,630 votes and comprises, apart from Jalandhar City, Lohia, Sultanpur Lodhi and Kapurthala. In the 1996 elections, the seat had been won by the Akali candidate, Darbara Singh, defeating Umrao Singh by 18,000 votes.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
