AAP fighting its I.N.D.I alliance "friend" Congress in Punjab New Delhi/Chandigarh
Politics may be called an unfinished journey and hence to traverse time and space involves trials and errors; and at times also friendly competitions.
Its ironical that Punjab's ruling AAP is working tirelessly to stonewall the 'revival' of the Congress party in the key northern state which shares border with Pakistan; and also is a province that has a legacy of militancy. Both these parties are constituents of the opposition I.N.D.I alliance. (INDIA) determined to fight Narendra Modi.
On the other hand, two former allies the Shiramani Akali Dal and the BJP are also contesting separately. For all practical purpose, they may eat up each other's vote shares.
Electioneering in the northern state of Punjab is gearing up full steam. The state's ruling AAP, the Congress, the Akali Dal of the Badal family and the BJP are the principal players. But one should not underestimate the strengths of Ms Mayawati-led BSP either.
Hence, the Bahujan Samaj Party announcing candidates holds a special significance especially in some pockets. Lately, the BSP said Gurbaksh Singh Chauhan will contest from the Faridkot (reserved) Lok Sabha seat and Raj Kumar Majotra will sweat it out in Gurdaspur, traditionally the only BJP stronghold seat in Punjab.
In 2019, renowned film star Sunny Deol was the saffron party nominee to win it. Prior to him it was represented by BJP's Vinod Khanna, also a prominent actor. Sunny Deol has been dropped and the party has fielded Dinesh Babbu this year.
Babbu is no celebrity but a fulltime politician. He is a former MLA from Sujanpur and a former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Election in Punjab is certainly going to be a keenly watched affair at the national and global stages due to multiple reasons including India's diplomatic tussle with Canada. Large number of Sikhs in Canada are understandably taking keen interest in the politics of Punjab state.
Punjab sends 13 Lok Sabha members from its constituencies, including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Khadoor Sahib, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala.
The Akali Dal has lost ground over the last few years and the BJP never had much hold in the state. For long it enjoyed or remained fairly-satisfied playing second fiddle to the ally Akalis both in the state assembly and parliamentary polls.
The joke used to be the 'communal Hindu' politics and the 'communal Sikh' politics brought two negative things on the table and produced 'positive' outcome.
For long the Congress fought both the Akalis and the BJP well. In the last two decades former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh used to be the face of Congress in the state. He successfully led the party to power even in 2017. But in 2022, things were mishandled at many levels by the Congress.
The AAP entered the scene with a bang amid a turmoil in the Congress. The AAP captured power winning 92 seats in the 117-member assembly. The AAP's vote share was 42.01 percent. In 2017, the AAP had won only 20 seats and the vote share was 18 percent.
Thus, it is expected that in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the AAP is the principal stakeholder in Punjab. But by sheer coincidence and the surprise elements of politics, two key alliance partners AAP and the Congress of the grand opposition formation I.N.D.I.A block are sweating it out against each other in Punjab. The two parties have reached seat adjustment agreement in Delhi for the seven seats.
There is yet another a small twist in the tale. The Congress has been slow or rather 'hesitant' to announce its candidates in Punjab. The AAP declared all 13 candidates well in advance and started its campaign in full throttle.
The Akalis and BJP leaders too have hit the ground and none like the Congress has displayed internal bickering and backbiting of such high magnitudes.
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| Tug of War ::: Eenadu paper |
In terms of issues, the BJP is at the receiving end of onslaught from political rivals over the issue of farmers' demand even though it is not the major player. Nor the BJP is in power in the state.
The non-political Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a body of farmer unions, is demanding a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, monthly pension of Rs 1000 for all farmers.
On the other hand, the BJP leaders talk about five-year contract to purchase pulses, maize, and cotton. They also say why there should be any demand for MSP for crops not grown in Punjab.
Farmers protested against the BJP candidate Dinesh Babbu in Batala and party leader Arvind Khanna in Barnala showing that the farmers' anguish still will be a dominant factor in Punjab politics.
Journey to troubles and the revival path of Congress:
Of course the Congress party is up to these days hoping to reclaim its past glory at the national level and also in Punjab. It is ultimately seeking to oust Narendra Modi from the centre. Can Punjab help both AAP and Congress in that endeavour? Only time can tell.
In 2021 September, the Congress had changed its chief minister for Sikh-majority Punjab state and brought in a Dalit face -- Charanjit Singh Channi,
Punjab is certainly a state where the grand old party continued (at least till 2022) to enjoy a groundswell of grassroots support. Of course, the 2022 assembly poll was lost. Channi has been fielded again. Now he will be contesting the June 1 parliamentary polls from Jalandhar. The AAP for its part had suffered a setback as its MP Sushil Kumar Rinku and MLA Sheetal Angural from Jalandhar quit and joined BJP.
The AAP had renominated Rinku as its candidate from Jalandhar. But Rinku and Angural visited the BJP headquarters in Delhi and joined the party in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar.
Channi actually lost from two assembly segments Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur in the 2022 state assembly polls.
Thus, fielding Channi also created problems. Congress party's Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary opposed the party decision and he even resigned as the party’s chief whip in the Punjab Assembly.
Congress candidates for this year's polls include sitting MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Amar Singh from the Amritsar and the Fatehgarh Sahib seats respectively.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, local MLA, has been fielded from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, former MP Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala and former MLA Jeet Mohinder Sidhu from Bathinda.
For AAP, the victory in 2022 in Punjab was special. Incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi and two former Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh and other heavyweights of the Punjab politics were trampled under the winning chariot of the Kejriwal-led AAP.
In the BJP camp too, internal bickering had surfaced. Senior party leader Vijay Sampla was upset and state unit president Sunil Jakhar had to meet him and pacified the sulking leader.
The BJP insiders say the part’s solo venture should not be underestimated. Punjab has a sizable Hindu population of 38.5% and the party might want to test if it can win over the Hindu votes especially in the context of growth prospects and pro Hindutva politics of Modi.
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** The Lakhimpur Kheri incident, where eight protesting farmers were killed by a moving car is also an election issue.
*** The northern state of Punjab, which shares a 600-kilometer border with Pakistan, is better known for its valiant Sikh soldiers and hard-working farmers. Punjab is the food bowl of India and the state has a sizable Dalit population. Some 32 percent of its 28 million people are Dalits and Channi was the first from the community to become a chief minister.
Yet, Congress could not win in 2022 as people reposed faith in the AAP. With 32 percent Dalits, therefore BSP has an important role to play.
ends
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