Bikram Singh Majithia confronting Navjot Singh Sidhu gives dramatic twist to election narrative in Punjab

 

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 bail was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24 while allowing him three days to approach the Supreme Court.

The man who has been raking up this case the most is Sidhu. The other case for which he used to accuse then chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh of soft-pedalling related to sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari.

Majithia is presently known as the strongest leader of the Majha belt rooted to the ground. He has his own strong network of party activists.

Sidhu would now have to devote more time to his own constituency thereby leaving less time to campaign for other candidates.

It is pertinent to mention here that Majithia getting arrested in case he does not get relief from the Supreme Court is not going to lessen the challenge to Sidhu.

This is the one decision that is going to give a massive lift to the Akali Dal’s election campaign.

In case of Parkash Singh Badal, it was being speculated for months that his health permitting, he might not retire from the electoral politics, and he has not. Within hours of his coming out of a Ludhiana hospital, his daughter-in-law and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal  cleared the uncertainty. Sukhbir made the formal announcement along with that of Majithia in the evening.

This is the election in which each and every seat is precious.

And the issues relating to the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and drugs that  dominated the discourse in 2017 too have staged a comeback, although in a new format.

Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal himself today again raised the issue after paying obeisance at the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple). The statement by his party stated, “Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today prayed to the almighty that may nothing remain of those who indulged in the heinous acts of sacrilege against Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji while asserting that those who did politics on this issue should also meet the same fate. The SAD President made this revelation of his prayer at Sri Harmandar Sahib to newsmen while asserting that the Congress party had politicized the issue of sacrilege for the last five years due to which the Sikh community had still not received justice in the case. He said the Congress party only perceived the issue of sacrilege as something which was to be used to weaken the Shiromani Akali Dal as it was the sole representative of the Sikh community.”

He added, “This is the reason that I prayed today that not only should nothing remain in the lives of all those who had politicized this sensitive issue but that nothing remains of them in the forthcoming assembly elections also”.

The rejection of anticipatory bail to Akali  leader Bikram Singh Majithia by the Punjab and Haryana High Court has brought the focus back on drug smuggling.

The fact is that both these issues reflect utter failure of the Congress government in the state to take these cases to the logical conclusion.

The construct of the sacrilege narrative is basically imperfect. This writer has consistently maintained that no Akali chief minister can be part of such heinous conspiracy to desecrate Guru Granth Sahib or order the police on the spot to open fire on devotees seeking justice for the sacrilege. The police on the spot  don’t seek permission from the top before opening fire. This narrative in itself is ridiculous. Moreover, the firing on the record is ordered by the duty magistrate.

It is for this very reason that despite so many probe teams, the sacrilege issue has not been closed conclusively.

Of course, this sensitive issue must be taken to the logical conclusion and its closure is a must but only after putting it in proper perspective.

If the Akali Dal can be blamed for mishandling the issue at that time,  it is the failure of the Congress government on this issue in 2022 that is equally important.

It is failure on this very issue that had triggered revolt against Capt Amarinder Singh leading to his replacement by Charanjit Singh Channi. The Congress continues to be in disarray with its top leaders in the state failing to put up a united face.

These leaders with bloated ego are fighting over as to who would be the next chief minister rather than working together to facilitate victory of the party.

It is the failure of the Amarinder government to perform that has added to the narrative of trying a third party despite the fact that the Aam Aadmi Party had collapsed even as the main opposition and its central leadership has a tight grip over the state unit.

This is the first election in which Sukhbir Singh Badal has the total command.

In fact, all the commanders now belong to the younger generation and this too is another dimension of this election. People like Capt Amarinder Singh have ceased to be of much relevance.

Punjab now needs framework for the  new generation and commitment to implement the same.