Banking on husband's development work as MLA, Cong's Amrita Warring hopes to retain Gidderbaha seat

Gidderbaha: With only a couple of weeks to go before her electoral debut in the upcoming bypolls, Congress candidate Amrita Warring is centring her campaign around the development work carried out during her husband Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as an MLA.

Amrita has blamed the Badals and Shiromani Akali Dal for "doing nothing" for the assembly constituency despite being in power for decades.

Gidderbaha was once considered the stronghold of Akalis, with former Punjab chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal winning from the seat for five consecutive terms - 1969, 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1985. His nephew Manpreet Badal represented the seat in 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2007 on SAD tickets.

"I am getting overwhelming response from the people of Gidderbaha constituency. We tried to fulfill all promises which we made and we also tried to do what even not promised," she told PTI.

"We have been working in Gidderbaha for over 13 years now," the 45-year-old said, adding that she and her family members are reminding voters about what they did for the constituency.

Her husband Amrinder Singh Raja Warring vacated the seat earlier this year after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana. He is a three-time MLA from Gidderbaha and the Punjab Congress chief.

Bypolls are being held in four assembly seats in Punjab on November 20. Votes will be counted on November 23. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Amrita is pitted against BJP nominee and former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Aam Aadmi Party candidate Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon.

Amrinder won the Gidderbaha seat in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 assembly elections and Amrita had campaigned for her husband for the polls.

Amrinder as MLA helped set up a government college, built a child and mother care centre, Amrita said.

She also credited her husband for the transformation of a civil hospital which was adjudged as the best in the sub-district hospital category in the state in the "Kayakalp" programme in 2019.

The Congress canididate also said community centres, gymnasium, water pipelines and parks were set up in villages during her husband's term.

"In 2012, people here did not demand any roads or streets. They just wanted a cooking gas agency as they had to stand in long queues from early morning to get an LPG cylinder. The Badal family which earlier represented this segment never paid care about this basic need for a cooking gas agency in Gidderbaha," she said.

After her husband became MLA in 2012, cooking gas agencies came up in Gidderbaha, she said.

Amrita also accused the AAP government in the state for withholding funds meant for carrying out development projects in the Gidderbaha constituency Taking aim at her rivals from the AAP and BJP, Amrita said its leaders switch loyalties for their "personal gains".

"Voters must be asking them (rival candidates) for which party they are seeking votes. People will give them a befitting reply," she told PTI.

Manpreet Badal, who lost the Gidderbaha seat to Amrinder in 2012, contested as a Congress candidate from Bathinda Urban seat in 2017 after he merged his party People's Party of Punjab with the grand old party. He joined the BJP in 2023.

AAP candidate Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon is a former aide of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. He joined the AAP in August.