Durgapur, April 27
SS Ahluwalia, the BJP candidate from Burdwan-Durgapur constituency of West Bengal says if Madhu Limaye, a Maharashtrian, can win elections from Munger and George Fernandes, a native of coastal Karnataka, from Muzaffarpur, why not a Sikh with his roots in West Punjab from Bengal.
“I am a nationalist, not a sectarian. I want to contest from a constituency where there is not even a single Sikh voter,” Ahluwalia, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, says.
Ahluwalia, a Sikh with his family roots in Sialkot, has chosen for himself a constituency that is near his “home”. Durgapur is 40 km from Asansol where Ahluwalia (68) was born. He speaks Bengali fluently and is married to a Bengali woman.
“My entire education–right from nursery to the university level–took place in Burdwan district. I must repay the debt of the land by ensuring overall development of the region,” Ahluwalia, who considers himself “more of a Bengali than a Punjabi”, says.
He strictly adheres to Sikhism in personal life and proudly cites his son young Raunak’s flowing untrimmed beard. “I don’t think you will see Badal’s or Dhindsa’s sons sporting such beards,” he says.
