Amritsar: BJP leader Arun Jaitley faces a formidable rival in Congress` Amarinder Singh in his maiden bid to the enter the Lok Sabha.
Election fever is gripping the holy city with Singh scheduled to pay a visit tomorrow. It is his first visit after the announcement of his candidature, 10 days after a massive roadshow of Jaitley.
When BJP announced the candidature of Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Amritsar was considered his safe passage to the Lok Sabha.
But with Congress pitting Singh against him, the contest is surely likely to be a clash of the titans.
Jaitley, however, remains unfazed by his opponent as the former commerce minister claims the groundswell against Congress "adds to my confidence".
Singh has been an MLA from Patiala. His wife Preneet Kaur, who is minister of state for external affairs, is the Congress Lok Sabha candidate from there.
Initially he was unwilling to fight from Amritsar as he wanted to campaign for his wife.
Although Jaitley is a successful advocate and an effective orator, Singh is a formidable opponent who has a large following both among Sikh and Hindu voters.
Another plus point for Singh is that despite being in Congress he had openly opposed the army operation at the Golden Temple in 1984 and quit his Lok Sabha seat in protest.
Congress stalwart R L Bhatia had won Amritsar a record six times, but Amritsar has been voting for BJP since 2004 when the party fielded cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.
