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“This is a farmers’ tractor, farmers won Delhi with the tractor. It has been the symbol of victory in Delhi.”
A citizen journalist during the farmers’ protest in Delhi, 33-year-old Gurpreet Singh Kotli became a voice of agitating farmers. Now he’s the Samyukt Samaj Morcha candidate from Muktsar’s Gidderbaha constituency in Punjab, and campaigns in an unusual style.
Gurpreet has been covering the length and breadth of Gidderbaha on a tractor.
“We chose a tractor because travelling on a tractor is economical for us. By spending only Rs 400, I campaign on it for an entire day."Gurpreet Singh Kotli, SSM Candidate
Kotli said that he has strategised in such a way that he doesn’t have to do a lot of back and forth while campaigning. “At night, we camp out at safe places in villages. One benefit of this move is that we get to meet more people during the night,” he said.
Gurpreet and his team have made arrangements for meals as well. “We mostly arrange our food from home. Whenever we feel that we’ve come too far from home, then villagers help us in arranging food,” he said.
Gurpreet told The Quint that the tractor trolley on which he is campaigning has been gifted to him by some villagers.
“We have the same system we had when we were in Delhi. We park the trolley in whichever village we want to. We sleep in the trolley just like we used to in Delhi,” he explained.
“Farmers’ protest taught us how to strategise,” he said.
Gurpreet said that he wants to pave way for the youth who want to enter politics. He said that if a person has a clear vision, he can fight an election on a tractor.
“One of the main issues that I am fighting for is that whoever wins and becomes the MLA, his children should go to the government school in Gidderbaha. If MLA’s children will go to the government school, the condition of the school will improve."Gurpreet Singh Kotli, SSM Candidate
Gurpreet also wants elected representatives and their family to use government hospitals for treatments and consultations. “MLAs will be treated at the same health facility as the common people,” he said.
He also explains how an MLA’s income increases exponentially after he is elected and he is also eligible for a pension. “If I get elected, all my family income will be contributed to the people of Gidderbaha.”
Kotli is pitted against Punjab’s Transport Minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who is eyeing a third term in a row from the seat.
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