Jagtar Singh

  Congress counters AAP in Malwa by fielding Channi from Bhadaur as second seat   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Following decision of the Shiromani Akali Dal to pin down Navjot Singh Sidhu to his Amritsar East seat by pitting Bikram Singh Majitha against him besides his traditional Majitha seat thereby giving a new twist to electoral dynamics in Punjab, the Congress seems to have made similar strategic move by fielding Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from the second seat of Bhadaur in the Malwa heartland, the region   where the Aam Aadmi Party is perceived to be in strong position. This party had received strong support in 2017 too in the broader Malwa region that includes Puadh area. It may be recalled that in the 2017 election, Capt Amarinder Singh too had contested from Lambi as second seat against then chief minister and Akali Dal stalwart Parkash Singh Badal but that was more of his symbolic presence and it did not make any difference. Channi’s fielding ...

  Punjab is crucial for national ambition of Kejriwal, revival of Congress Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Amritsar East would be the game changer in the state but at another level, Punjab is crucial for national ambition of Aam Aadmi Party chief and Chief Minister of semi-state Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and establishment of Rahul Gandhi as a leader to command the Congress in 2024 Lok Sabha poll. The successful agrarian struggle that originated in Punjab is interestingly impacting the election discourse more in Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party is facing the heat particularly in the western belt. In Punjab itself, this struggle might have dictated the electoral dynamics more strategically   in case a section of the farmer leaders had not formed the Sanyukat Kisan Morcha to enter the fray hurriedly. Fielding Bikram Singh Majithia to confront state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in Amritsar East is a master stroke by Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Bad...

  Opting for aggressive strategy, Akali Dal fields Bikram Majithia to nail Navjot Sidhu in polls   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Not to be cowed down by rejection of his anticipatory bail, the Shiromani Akali Dal today pitched Bikram Singh Majithia to confront state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu raising the pitch to the highest level in the Assembly election. Majithia would also contest from his traditional Majitha constituency. This decision of Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal shifts entire focus in this election to Amritsar East. This announcement has at one level eclipsed the addition of another important dimension of Akali Dal patriarch and 5-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal trying his lunch again from Lambi at 94 years of age. This strategy has the potential to change the terms of this likely to be the most fiercely contested election in this state so far in the overcrowded electoral domain. Majithia faces NDPS Act case and his anticipatory ba...

  People must frame own manifesto, force political parties to guarantee life with dignity   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh One of the most positive dimensions of the February 2022 Assembly elections in Punjab is the multiple choices that the people would have for the first time. It is no more wheat-paddy cropping pattern in political domain in Punjab. However, the variety, by and large, is not much different. Rejects from the one formation are managing to find space in the other. Emerging after the longest ever and successful agrarian struggle, it was expected that the political dynamics in the state might undergo some qualitative changes. One of the outcomes of this struggle seemed to be the politics of accountability. However, what is happening is that the political parties are out-competing each other by offering the choice from their respective   menu cards. If one party guarantees Rs 1000 as pension to women, the others raise the bids much higher and so...

  Punjab February 2022 key to 2024 Lok Sabha election and Modi knows it better than Congress Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   It is too well known even to ordinary voter in Punjab that the Bharatiya Janata Party led alliance can’t form the government here but it is still going ahead full steam. There has to be some deeper motive. The BJP in Punjab has been riding piggy back since 1997 in this state when it joined hands with the Shiromani Akali Dal although it differed with that party on almost every key issue that had dominated the political discourse for about two decades by that time. The Akali Dal had taken the initiative by extending unconditional support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that lasted just for 13 days but laid the foundation for this alliance. Shiromani Akali Dal walked out the alliance after the three contentious farm bills were passes that now stand abrogated under pressure from the massive and unprecedented farm struggle led by Punjab. Punja...

  Kejriwal provides telephonic legitimacy to Bhagwant Mann as last resort choice of chief ministerial face   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Bhagwant Mann, president of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and MP, a few months back, appeared to be embarrassment personified as sitting along his side, his party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised to people of this border state that he would present them with an effective and some very prominent Sikh as chief   ministerial face for February 2022 Assembly polls. The search ended in futility. The next strategy was to project the last resort choice but this choice was sitting at his side when Kejriwal had made that announcement. A strategy in the name of people’s choice was apparently worked out to provide legitimacy to the last resort effort and it was decided to go in for telephone calls and the exercise lasting couple of days ended last evening. Bhagwan Mann was expectedly announced as party’s chief ...

  AAP and Congress in Punjab rocked by major turbulence, Akali Dal playing safe Ground Zero   Jagtar Singh   Punjab is springing surprises, setting new trends and at the moment, seems to be defying the psephologists. AAP was today hit by an unprecedented development that at one level can also be termed as hilarious. The ruling Congress is confronted with rebellion. The Akali Dal has the advantage of a strong cadre base. The two other players are still shaping up. It is normal for people to revolt against denial of ticket. In the case of AAP, it is the candidate who has resigned from the party while levelling several allegations, including raising questions on its origin. AAP’s candidate from Ferozepur (Rural)   Ashu Bangar today left the party saying that its leadership did not trust the   Punjabis. He reinforced his assertion citing the functioning of its incharge from Delhi Raghav Chadha who is behaving more like the Punjab party president th...

  Menu of candidates offered by political parties in Punjab so far lack variety Ground Zero Chandigarh   It is the same old wine in the same old bottles. This is the summing up of the electoral scenario in Punjab following announcement of most of the candidates by the three of the competing parties going by the lists released so far. The Congress is the latest to release first instalment of 86 candidates with some fusion of new faces. The list contains most of the sitting MLAs. The party so far has adhered to the criteria of one family-one ticket and competing from the same seat again. The names of almost all the senior leaders barring former state party chief Sunil Jakhar have been included in the first list. A member from the Jakhar clan, of course, has been fielded from Abohar, the seat earlier represented by Jakhars. Sunil Jakhar has been miffed and critical of the party especially in Punjab after his name was first floated as replacement for then chief min...

  Navjot Sidhu’s   narrative of Punjab electing chief minister directly is interesting and intriguing Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   Punjab electoral race is turning hilarious. It is being heard for the first time that the people of Punjab would elect a chief minister directly. Advocating this line is cricketer and half-satirist   turned full time politician who now heads the Congress in Punjab Navjot Singh Sidhu who yesterday went to the extent of making the assertion that the central leadership of the Congress had no business to finalise this choice. The merits of his so called ‘Punjab Model’ is a different issue. Punjab has of late turned into comedy circus. The Aam Aadmi Party chief Bhagwant Mann is a satirist by profession with a mass following and he too has been aspiring for the top job in case his party crosses the threshold. AAP today again promised a chief ministerial face next week who, it was claimed, would turn the terms of electoral game. ...

  AAP offering alternative politics turns out to be franchise model provoking strong attack   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh The allegations being levelled against the Aam Aadmi Party, that claim to offer alternative politics, not just alternative to existing traditional political parties, in the run up to the Assembly polls in Punjab are of course not new. It is that certain dimensions are new. The allegations pertain to sale of tickets. Such allegations had got suppressed amidst frenzied hype created in favour of the party before the 2017 elections but were raised more forcefully after the results were out. The party, that had emerged as the main opposition replacing the Shiromani Akali Dal, subsequently collapsed under such allegations including autocratic behaviour of its chief Arvind Kejriwal. Theis controversy of selling of tickets this time is already rocking the party thereby exposing its functioning that in corporate culture is described as the franchise model...

  Observing Martyrdom anniversary of Sahibzadas as Veer Bal Divas amounts to belittling  unparalleled sacrifice in world history Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   Hum Jaan De Ke Auron Ki Jaane Bachaa Chale Sikhi Ki Neev Hum Hain Saron Pe Utha Chale Guriayee Ka Hai Kissa Jahan Mein Bana Chale Singhon Ki Saltanat Ka Hai Pauda Lagaa Chale Gaddi Se Taajo-Takhat Bas Ab Qaum Payegi Duniya Se Zalimon Ka Nishaan Tak Mitayegi   This is Allah Yaar Khan Yogi paying his tributes the unprecedented martyrdom of two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh- Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh who were approximately eight and six years old when they were bricked alive by Sirhind Subedar Wazir Khan and executed on December 26, 1705. They were just not Bals (Kids). They are the youngest martyrs of Faith in the history of the world. Going by Allah Yaar Khan, the unique martyrdom of the two Sahibzadas now revered as ‘Babas’ by the Sikhs laid the foundation of...