Cross-currents in Punjab polls: In Fazilka, SAD MP campaigns for son contesting on Cong ticket

Ghubaya is from Rai Sikh community. In Fazilka, there are nearly 58,000 voters from the community out of the total 1.60 lakh in the constituency.

Devinder is banking upon this vote bank.

“Not only Fazilka, Rai Sikh community also has a strong presence in Jalalabad, Ferozepur Rural and Gur-har-Sahai. I am confident Congress will win all the four seats,” he said. There are nearly 2 lakh Rai Sikh community voters in these four constituencies.

So far, Devinder’s prospects seem good. On Friday, Rai Sikhs raised slogans in favour of Ghubayas at a public meeting of Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal in Ghubaya’s native village of Ghubaya, which falls in Badal’s constituency of Jalalabad.

When one SAD leader on the stage spoke against Sher Singh Ghubaya, a large number of villagers started raising slogans against the party. Though SAD leaders publicly apologised, they failed to pacify protesters.

Devinder’s candidature was announced recently by Congress. Much before the start of his campaign, he was dogged by a controversy regarding his age proof.

Former Congress MLA Dr Mohinder Rinwa, who wanted a ticket from Fazilka and has vowed to contest as an Independent, has threatened to lodge an FIR against the Ghubaya family for allegedly forging documents to produce a wrong birth certificate. As per Rinwa, Devinder was born in January 1993 and is 23 years old while his birth certificate says he was born in January 1991.

Devinder said, “I will be filing my nomination papers on Monday and I am ready to reply to the controversies raised about on my age.”

Sher Singh Ghubaya did not deny he was campaigning for his son but he refused to elaborate. “I don’t want to comment on this. I hope you understand.”

Although Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat Badal, a Union minister, has taunted Sher Singh in public asking him to join Congress, Sukhbir himself has been avoiding naming Sher Singh.