United BSP goes marching ahead

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">PHILLAUR: The merging of different Dalit political groups, the strong anti-incumbency factor working against an alienated Santosh Chowdhry and the entry of a large youth force into the BSP are factors that are going in favour of young, educated and moderate BSP candidate Pawan Teenu who is contesting for the Phillaur Parliamentary seat this time.<br /><br />He is pitted against Santosh Chowdhry of the Congress and Charanjit Singh Atwal of the Akali Dal from this reserved constituency which has over 3 lakh Dalit voters. The chemistry of the Dalit vote bank underwent a dramatic change last December when Devi Das Nahar''s BSP (Ambedkar) and Satnam Singh Kainth''s Bahujan Samaj Morcha merged with the BSP. <br /><br />Kainth''s hold in Banga and Nawanshahr along with Nahar''s hold in Phagwara and Bholath have added to the strength of the BSP. Asked why people would vote him into power Pawan Teenu replied that his educational background was his biggest asset. <br /><br />"So far the Phillaur seat had remained with the Chodhary family, but it continued to be a backward area. The trend so far had been on populist schemes. never had leaders tried to improve the area in terms of education and health. I plan to set up a technical institute with the help of NRI support. Moreover the MPLAD would be spent on development projects that can produce man days," said Teenu, who is an MA in economics and is known as a moderate Dalit leader.<br /><br />Phillaur has about 3.60 lakh Ad Dharmi votes, 27000 Mazbi Sikhs and around 70,000 Valmiki votes. What catapulted Teenu into the parliamentary battle was the Talhan issue where he was found to be instrumental in creating enlightenment among the Dalit youth."The Talhan episode was the turning point in my career," he said. Observers feel that Santosh Chowdhry had become inaccessible. Moreover, she spent her MP''s fund on populist measures like community centres and street lights. <br /><br />"People now want educational opportunities for their children. As for the Akalis, people have not forgotten the Janjua decision regarding the reservation policy amendment," Teenu said talking to TNN. "It was under Badal that this amendment had been implemented and it was done so only in Punjab." This is an important poll issue in Phillaur constituency.<br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>