Defender, challenger and bystander. That’s how the election contest in Punjab’s commercial capital Ludhiana is being played out.
Traditionally a Congress seat, sitting Member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu does not seem as comfortably placed as in 2014 when there was a strong Modi wave in the country. His citadel — he is grandson of assassinated CM Beant Singh — is showing cracks. He is battling anti-incumbency against the two-year-old Congress government as well as infighting within the party.
“Don’t talk of local issues, such as broken roads, as these are insignificant in a Lok Sabha election. What you should think before casting your vote is whether you want cheaper fuel and  Rs 72,000 per year as promised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi under NYAY,” he tells a crowd at Humbran village on the city’s outskirts, even as a woman complains she has been denied free power by the government.