Politics apart, people to gain if Ferozepur hamlets move to Muktsar

Politics apart, people to gain if Ferozepur hamlets move to Muktsar
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

CHANDIGARH, OCT 17: The move of the Parkash Singh Badal government to transfer 117 villages from Ferozepur district to Muktsar district will not only checkmate the ranks of the mainstream Opposition but also ``greatly benefit'', by way of administrative expedience, the people inhabiting these far-flung villages on the borders.

While most of the panchayats of the 117 villages spanning the Assembly constituencies of Abohar and Baluana are reported to have passed resolutions favouring the transfer, the government has put the move on hold for the time being. No official notification has been passed effecting the transfer as yet.

The stalling of the transfer of 117 villages, which fall under the Abohar sub-division, follows the 10-day agitation by the Ferozepur Bar Association, which represents the interests of Ferozepur district by way of potential work loss.

``Irrigation Minister and Ferozepur MLA Janmeja S. Sekhon met Badal on our behalf and he was assured that no village would be transferred. The issue has cropped up again. A few months back we had also launched an agitation against the transfer. Not only will we lose a lot of work but the move is designed to benefit the Akalis as Muktsar is the Badal clan's pocketborough. Why is Ferozepur being singled out for transfers of villages? Some time back 150 villages were given to Moga,'' Association President Hari Chand Kamboj told The Indian Express.

However, besides the politics involved, the transfer issue also involves the vital issue of administrative expediency and people's welfare. Even the Opposition admits that these 117 villages are closer to Muktsar than Ferozepur.

``While some border villages are 160 km from Ferozepur, they are a mere 90 km from Muktsar. The poor bus service means that people have to spend more than a day while travelling to and fro from Ferozepur for work like court cases,'' said Abohar's BJP MLA Dr Ram Kumar.

But within the BJP there is strong opposition to the transfer. ``The 117 villages are Hindu-dominated. By transferring these to Muktsar, the Hindu hegemony will be lost to Sikh domination. Also, it will kill the demand to make Abohar itself into a district,'' said Vijaylakshmi Bhatu, the vocal treasurer of the BJP's Mahila Morcha.

However, the chances of Abohar being made a district are considered very remote as it would open a Pandora's box of pending demands for creation of more districts in Punjab. There is little doubt that the SAD-BJP regime will benefit greatly in the next Assembly polls if the transfer of these villages is implemented by way of a government notification.

``If the alliance stays for the next polls then the majority Hindu votes will naturally accrue to the SAD-BJP for having effected the publicly beneficial transfer,'' point out political observers at Abohar.

Not only that, the transfer would impinge upon the fortunes of Congress MP from Faridkot, Jagmeet Brar, who defeated Sukhbir Badal in the last Lok Sabha polls. ``When the fresh delimitation exercise for the LS constituencies takes place, these villages might go to the Faridkot seat. The SAD-BJP could gain a huge block of votes from these 117 villages switching the balance of power in Faridkot,'' say observers.

The family of former Lok Sabha speaker and Congress stalwart Balram Jakhar and son Sajjan Jakhar would stand to lose out even more, political observers point out. ``The Jakhar family is dead opposed to the transfer as it would break the votes. If these villages go to Muktsar, the local monopoly of the Jakhar family would have to face stiff competition from within the Congress -- Jagmeet Brar and former CM Harcharan S. Brar -- as well as from the well-entrenched Badal clan. The Assembly constituencies of both Badal and nephew Manpreet Badal fall in Muktsar district,'' sources close to the Jakhar family said.