MLA report card: Prem Mittal and Janmeja Singh Sekhon
Hindustan Times takes a look at Punjab MLAs and their performance:
Prem Mittal, 67, Shiromani Akali Dal
Constituency: Mansa
Education: Class 8
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 2 cr
Electoral record
2012: Defeated Cong’s Gurpreet Kaur Gagowal by 1,305 votes
2007: Did not contest; Sher Singh won the seat for the Congress
Assembly record
Questions asked: 12
Call attention moved: 0
Power punch From dominant trading community; risen from councillor level
What next Looking to contest from Ludhiana, his native area
How he performed
Mittal claims that his association with the top leadership got him a lot of grants which he distributed to NGOs, clubs, and schools. A first-time MLA, on the ground he was sidelined by the top SAD leadership. Most of the development work, including the construction of a Panchayat Bhawan, Mata Sundri Girls College; relinking of canals in villages, was anchored by Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Once in a public function he was publicly asked by CM Parkash Singh Badal to focus on attending bhogs (memorial) and weddings while developmental projects would be taken care of by Harsimrat. Despite having a business in Ludhiana, he shifted to Mansa and was accessible to people in his constituency. Now, though, he is looking to shift back to Ludhiana.
Voter speak
There are many projects related to education in limbo. Though he attended foundation-laying functions of the projects, none of them could get operational in his tenure.
Vishwadeep Singh Brar, 40, banker
Our MLA is always accessible in the constituency. Due to his close association with the ruling Badal family, the area has seen some development too.
Pawan Bansal, 50, cable operator.
By the way
An avid consumer of news across mediums
Janmeja Singh Sekhon,72,Shiromani Akali Dal
Constituency: Maur
Education: Class 12
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 10 cr
Electoral record
2012: Defeated Mangat Rai Bansal of Congress by 1,387 votes
2007: Won from Ferozepur Cantt; this segment came up later in delimitation
Assembly record Minister of PWD
Power punch Related to CM Badal; is part of the SAD core team
What next Likely to get ticket again from this segment
How he performed
Factionalism in the SAD here and the behaviour of some people in his coterie have hit his image. He also suffered loss of face when some SAD men clashed with traders in the main town, Maur, on Diwali in 2014. People say he is not a very social figure, while opponents say the police targeted them due to political vendetta. However, as a senior minister in the Punjab cabinet, he managed to bring some development projects in the segment, including a sub-divisional office and complex. Being in-charge of the public works department (PWD), he has got work done on improving the roads, a new building for a girls’ school in Maur, paving of streets, and construction of drains in villages, besides sewerage in several areas.
Voter speak
The state of education and health hasn’t seen improvement. Laying roads is not the only form of development. Opposition political workers have been targeted by police.
Mangat Rai, 40, electronics trader
The MLA has succeeded in pursuing several development works. Sewerage, streetlights and water supply works have witnessed visible progress.
Mohit Attri, 32, lawyer
By the way
Has a library at home; reads Sikh history
Tomorrow: Lehra, Dirba, Sunam, Bhadaur