Skip to main content

Induction of Sirsa indicates BJP strategy to turn February 2022 Assembly polls in Punjab 4-cornered

 


 

With induction of Sirsa, BJP unleashes its design for February 2022 Punjab polls

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

The BJP has hit the Shiromani  Akali Dal the hardest where it hurts the most.

The issue is not that of Manjinder Singh Sirsa joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. A political leader leaving one and joining another party causes only temporary ripples.

The issue is that of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president jumping over to the BJP bandwagon. This is an issue that directly concerns the Sikh religio-political domain and not just the Akali Dal.

The DSGMC is the second most important statutory body of the Sikhs after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee controlling the Sikh shrines in the national capital.

In that context, it is not important whether he was close a confidant of Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal or not.

At another level, the BJP is emerging as the top player in the political market.

With the political parties turning non-ideological, it is now free for all in the political market where one can join any political formation without much loss of credibility.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa as Akali Dal leader defecting to any other party can be his personal choice but the DSGMC president resigning from office and joining any other party amounts to treachery with the Sikhs.

He had lost in the recent election to the general house of the DSGMC. However, it seems the decision by the Akali Dal chief to get him co-opted to continue as the president was wrong in retrospect. That he was facing disqualification from the Gurdwara Election Commission is a different issue. He failed the test of writing correct Punjabi that is one of the qualifications under the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act.

His co-option to facilitate his continuation as the president by Sukhbir was  manifestation of the trust reposed in him.

Never in the recent past, the Sikh religio-political domain has been faced such turbulence.

It may be recalled that as the DSGMC president, he was allowed by the Akali Dal to contest election to the Delhi Assembly as the BJP candidate as it was supposed to be a short-term arrangement. It was not.

Sirsa had started functioning as the BJP spokesman in Delhi. The DSGMC chief is not expected to follow in the footsteps of the party practicing divisive politics.

The issue is as to how the BJP is going to use him in Punjab and in the Sikh stream.

The BJP  and the Aam Aadmi Party have been searching for a Sikh face for long in Punjab.

The problem would have been different in case the farmers’ struggle had not been there as many of the Sikh leaders from across the political spectrum in Punjab were known to be keen to get inducted by the BJP. The BJP itself had sent feelers to several of them. This design can be timed to senior leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa leaving the Akali Dal. The farm struggle turned the BJP virtually non-touchable in Punjab.

The situation has now started returning to normal with the repeal of the three fam laws that had provoked the agitation. However, the time now is too short.

The BJP has former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh as an ally but his new outfit can act more as a spoiler. The BJP had earlier won over some Sikhs with the radical past but they are not well-known faces and have not been active in electoral political discourse.

With the induction of Sirsa, the BJP has unleashed its design of poaching. However, there is every likelihood of the credibility of such leaders coming under question.

It is now clear that the BJP is serious in adding the fourth dimension to the electoral political discourse in Punjab with the other three dimensions being the ruling Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance, and the Aam Aadmi Party.

The BJP in Punjab on its own does not carry much weight and Narendra Modi is not a factor in this only state in the country whose religio-political and electoral discourses are different from all other states.

The Shiromani Akali Dal in particular would have to tread cautiously. Looking back, the enforcement directorate raids on associates of Sukhbir Singh Badal were a signal. Sirsa too faces accusations of corruption in DSGMC.

The Akali Dal might not end up the lone victim in this poaching game.

Capt Amarinder Singh is also on the prowl for leaders from within the Congress to strengthen the BJP design.

Sirsa has ditched the Akali Dal at a critical juncture.

 

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Damage to institution of Akal Takht symbolising Sikh sovereignty more important dimension of current crisis in Sikh domain

  Ideological Damage to Akal Takht most important dimension of Akali Crisis Ground Zero By Jagtar Singh The Sikh religio-political discourse entered a new phase on Baisakhi 2025 — the historic day on which Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699, created the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, completing the ideological foundation laid by Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith. Significant developments emerged from the well-attended Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) conference held at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib on April 13. It was the first major public appearance of Sukhbir Singh Badal since his re-election as party president on April 12, marking his return to the helm after a brief interregnum. Sukhbir, who first succeeded his father, Parkash Singh Badal, as party president in 2008, resumes leadership of a party long dominated by the Badal family—an influence that has spanned over three decades, the longest in the SAD’s history. For months, the religio-political landscape of Punjab has remained i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse

  Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, Dec 8: The Sikh religio-political domain has the tendency to dictate religio-political discourse of Punjab whose polity is different from other regions in the country. This is the state where a national dynamic minority is in majority. This minority was the third entity in all the political negotiations leading to India’s independence. What happened in Punjab on December 2 has to be reviewed in this backdrop as this development is going to have far-reaching impact not only on the future of the Shiromani Akali Dal but also the political tendencies at several levels. It is pertinent to mention at this stage itself that the Sikh religio-political discourse is presently affecting even India’s geo-politics, especially in the American sub-continent in the context of the activities of a section of the Sikh Diaspora. December 2 was unprecedented in the history of more than a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Killing of Sidhu Moosewala is chilling reminder that all is not well with Punjab but not the time to indulge in blame game

  Something continues to be wrong with Punjab going by killing of Sidhu Moosewala Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   The killing of  Punjabi pop star Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu popular as Sidhu Moosewala is more than shocking. It has not only numbed Punjab but has triggered shock waves across the seas. The only inference that can be drawn from this tragic end of a young icon is that something is not right with Punjab, despite illusion created by degenerated political elite of so called normalcy. It is the system that has to return to normalcy. It has not. The unabated degeneration in the system at times tend to play havoc. This is not the time to play blame game. Rather this is the time to rise above parochial political interests. Punjab needs consensus to facilitate the return of this historically disturbed state and the injured psyche to return to normalcy. And it is not an easy task. What Punjab lacks at this juncture is a role model. After all, Punjab is not a state like any other...
Post a Comment
Read more