Tribune News Service
Ravi Dhaliwal
Qadian (Gurdaspur), January 20
Due to the Bajwa brothers’ allegiance to various political organisations, passersby eagerly watch four flags, two each from the Congress and the BJP, hoisted on the roof of their ancestral home.
From Kadian seat, Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa is contesting on a Congress ticket.
His younger brother and sitting Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Singh had recently joined the BJP after he was denied ticket from his home ground.
Infighting in the family is not new. In 2009, Pratap Bajwa was elected MP from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. in 2012 Despite the objections of Fateh Jung, his wife Charanjit Kaur Bajwa was given a party ticket in the assembly elections. Enraged, he left Qadian and went straight to Sri Hargobindpur to support Congress candidate Balwinder Laddi. In 2017, Fateh Jung successfully contested from Qadian.
A few months back, when Pratap Bajwa announced his intention to contest the assembly elections, he chose the Batala seat to make a comeback in state politics. He did this because his brother was the sitting MLA from Qadian and it would have been difficult to remove him.
However, in December, PCC chief Navjot Sidhu announced Fateh Jung’s candidature at a rally in Kahanuwan, which is part of the Qadian seat. A few days later, Pratap Bajwa declared himself the candidate from Kadian, while the Congress Election Committee was yet to take a decision. Fateh Jung left Congress and joined BJP.