Jalandhar Cantt: The candidates’ list for Jalandhar Cantonment assembly constituency reads like a page from a who’s who guide to Indian hockey.
The Congress is fielding Pargat Singh, legendary hockey defender, incumbent MLA, and a minister in the state cabinet who is contesting to retain this seat for a third term. His biggest challenger is former centre-forward attacker Surinder Singh Sodhi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), although yet another hockey player is also in the fray — the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha’s Jaswinder Sangha who played the sport at university level.
All three are alumni of Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar. The BJP candidate, former Akali MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar, is an outlier here with no background in sports.
“I am the trendsetter, and I’m very established,” Pargat Singh said with a wry smile when asked about fellow hockey legend Sodhi’s candidature. Sodhi, meanwhile, was a little more cryptic: “Loha hi lohe ko kaat ta hai, toh kaat denge (Only iron can cut iron… so will cut it).”
Both Pargat Singh, 57, and Surinder Singh Sodhi, 64, boast of impressive hockey credentials. Both have the prestigious Arjuna Award (India’s second-highest sporting honour after the Khel Ratna) displayed in their respective drawing rooms, along with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, which is bestowed by the Punjab government for excellence in sport.
While Sodhi, a centre forward, scored a record 15 goals during the 1980 Olympics where India won a gold medal, Pargat Singh played in the position of full back and was considered one of the greatest defenders in the sport. He also captained the Indian team in two Olympics (1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta), and later became coach of the men’s team in 1998.
Both served in the state police. Sodhi reached the rank of inspector general before he retired in 2016, while Singh hung up his boots as senior superintendent of police (SSP) to join politics in 2012.
However, of the two, Pargat has had a more impressive political career so far, with a decade of experience. He has been voted in as Jalandhar Cantt MLA twice already (from a Shiromani Akali Dal ticket in 2012, and a Congress one in 2017) and as cabinet minister has held the portfolios of education, sports, and NRI affairs.
Sodhi’s political trajectory has been a little bumpier: in 2016, he joined the AAP, but a few months later entered the Congress. He joined the AAP again in February last year.
Nevertheless, Sodhi is banking on anti-incumbency sentiments against Pargat Singh and on a campaign that has focused on shopkeepers’ grievances and sports.
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Shops and sports central to Sodhi’s poll promises
Many shopkeepers in Jalandhar Cantt are itching for a change. When ThePrint visited the Jalandhar Cantt market, one shopkeeper loudly proclaimed he would vote for Surinder Singh Sodhi. When asked why, he clarified: “I will vote for the Aam Aadmi Party… it doesn’t matter who contests on their ticket,” he said.
Another shopkeeper who runs a shoe outlet said he had not yet decided who to vote for but was hopeful about Sodhi’s pre-poll assurances. “Sodhi promises we’ll get our shops in our names. The current MLA has only shown his face to us when he needed votes,” he said.
In the Jalandhar Cantt main market, a common peeve is that shopkeepers are not allowed to register the shops in their names, and have to pay rent to the Army. They also need permission from the Army before they make changes to their shops. Sodhi has promised to change the status quo and help get the shopkeepers get more rights in the cantonment area.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sodhi said he also had big dreams of reviving sports in Punjab. “At one point, sports was number one in Punjab, now it’s nowhere,” he added.
According to Sodhi, the state has “pockets” that focus on different games and these need a targeted approach. “There is hockey in Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, a little bit in Ludhiana, Ferozepur. When you go to Kapurthala, you’ll meet basketball players. In Sangrur, you’ll be greeted by boxers, weightlifters. Volleyball players are concentrated in and around Banga, footballers in Malpur… I’ll develop the game popular in various areas accordingly,” he said.
Sodhi alleged that the incumbent government did not build astroturf facilities for hockey “in pockets where it is played”, but did so in Bathinda, where the sport is not so popular. “It was a total waste of money. Now they take players from Jalandhar to Bathinda to play. Actual turf development is needed near villages where the sport is popular,” he added.
Pargat Singh on his report card and future plans
Speaking to ThePrint, Pargat Singh said he had been “developing Jalandhar Cantt in a planned fashion” and that there had been visible improvements during his tenure as MLA.
“There were a lot of unauthorised structures in Jalandhar Cantt when I took over. I solved that problem,” Pargat claimed, adding that he had focused his efforts on improving “sadak (roads), sewerage, pani (water), and electricity” in his constituency.
“I have integrated 11 villages around Jalandhar into the city and have opened three-four major roads. We took a naala (sewage canal) 7 kilometres away from the city and built roads and a jogging track over it. I have opened a college and have also developed a green belt here,” he said.
However, Pargat Singh has had some rocky interludes, especially in his capacity as education minister. In November, teachers in Jalandhar demonstrated in front of his residence several times to protest against the lack of jobs in the state.
On the question of Sodhi contesting elections from his seat, he said: “We’ve come from the same profession [the police] but there’s a huge gap. I am very established. You go and ask him what he was doing when he was SSP. When you fight elections, you’re completely exposed,” he said.
When ThePrint asked what he was referring to, Singh replied: “You’re the journalist. You find out.”
A promising election season for former sportspersons
Jalandhar Cantt falls within the Doaba region of Punjab, which is home to 23 assembly constituencies out of the state’s 117. A disproportionate number of sports personalities are in the fray this time from the region.
Apart from Pargat Singh and Surinder Singh Sodhi, two other Arjuna awardees are also contesting: former hockey captain Ajit Pal Singh (Punjab Lok Congress, Nakodar) and basketball player Sajjan S. Cheema (Aam Aadmi Party, Sultanpur Lodhi).
Across the rest of the state, too, several former sportspersons have been given tickets by various parties. These include former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress, Amritsar East), kabaddi player Gurnal Ghanaur (AAP, Ghanaur), shooter Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi (BJP, Ferozepur city) and basketball player Gurdit Shekhon (AAP, Faridkot).
According to Sodhi, the explanation is simple: “Sportspersons earn fame after shedding a lot of sweat and blood. They represent the nation and bring glory to it. Even today, when I meet someone they talk about when they used to follow my career and recount games dating 40 years back. If you’re well known, you get the votes.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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