Babbu arrives in style with 400-car convoy

Dinesh Singh Babbu (BJP) and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Congress) filed their respective nomination papers in contrasting styles today.

Babbu, a three-time MLA from Sujanpur, took the city by storm by arriving in a convoy of around 400 vehicles.

Babbu’s supporters arrived in the city from Sujanpur, Bhoa and Pathankot since early morning. There were traffic bottlenecks at some places but these were quickly cleared by the traffic cops.

Tight security arrangements had been made by the Gurdaspur Police in and around the District Administrative Complex (DAC) which houses the office of Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Vishesh Sarangal. Babbu was accompanied by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Pathankot sitting MLA Ashwani Sharma, former MLAs Ashwani Sekhri and Fatehjung Singh Bajwa and former Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva. Later, Babbu took out a roadshow.

In contrast, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa kept things simple. He arrived in the city from his native village of Dharowali, 35 km away, with only his close friends and advisors.

Randhawa, a four-time MLA, was accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, former Cabinet minister Aruna Choudhury, former Pathankot MLA Amit Vij and MLAs Naresh Puri and Barindermeet Singh Pahra.

The administration and the police had made elaborate arrangements. The candidates had informed officials in advance of their plans to file nominations today.

SAD candidate Daljit Singh Cheema and AAP’s Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi would file their papers on May 13. SSP Harish Dayama had constituted a special team to ensure there was no untoward incident during the nomination filing process.