Though OP Soni is the Congress candidate from Amritsar, his campaign has been completely overshadowed by the one Manmohan Singh’s brothers are conducting.
Though OP Soni is the Congress candidate from Amritsar, his campaign has been completely overshadowed by the one prime minister Manmohan Singh’s brothers are conducting. Davinder Singh Kohli and Surjit Singh Kohli are asking people to vote for the Congress if they want to see Manmohan as PM.
So pervasive has been their campaign that it is the PM, not Soni, who features in most hoardings in the city and wherever they go, the Kohlis tell people that it’s Singh who will eventually benefit from the votes Soni gets. No wonder, all this is giving Navjot Singh Sidhu, the candidate from the SAD-BJP alliance, a major headache.
The brothers know that the Manmohan Singh factor is expected to tilt urban Sikhs in Punjab towards the Congress in a big way. Singh’s status as the country’s first Sikh prime minister is an emotive issue with the people here and their campaign is an attempt to take advantage of that.
Singh’s brothers are holding fort at every street corner, recalling the PM’s days of struggle and telling people how he rose out of obscurity.
The prime minister’s family made Amritsar its second home after leaving Pakistan in the wake of the Partition.
“My elder brother used to sit in the dry fruits shop in Majith Mandi owned by our father,” says Davinder Singh. “But he told our father that business wasn’t his cup of tea and requested that he be allowed to study,” says Davinder.
Every now and then, the brothers talk about Singh’s legendary perseverance. “When in college, Manmohan Singh would study sitting under the streetlights in Sakatri Bagh till late in the evening, as the family house in Kanak mandi used to be full of people,” Davinder tells a rapt audience.
The prime minister’s elder brother, Surjit, projects the PM’s moral side. “We can’t ask favours from Bappa ji (brothers’ name for PM), but if the people of Amritsar ask for anything, I am sure he would not say no,” says Surjit.
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