From Panthic Politics Epicentre to Dalit Heartland, Litmus Test for Congress in Punjab

At the iconic Giani tea stall in the heart of the holy city of Amritsar, a Jat Sikh student, Amrit Pal, looks derisively at a pamphlet distributed by a Congress worker campaigning for his party candidate. “What have they done in the last five years to deserve my vote?’’ Before one senses an element of angst at non-performance, comes the addendum; “Why did they choose Charanjit Singh Channi as chief ministerial candidate?”

Panthic epicentre

In the Majha region, the epicentre of Panthic politics, something seems to have changed between February 6 and now. This was the day when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief ministerial candidate, sidelining another contender, PCC chief and Jat Sikh leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. An unprecedented and bold move, considering that the state never had a non Jat Sikh chief minister in the last five decades.

As one travels across Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot, the four districts in the region, an undercurrent of “unease” with the decision emerges.

In the 2017 polls, the Congress had swept through the region, winning 22 of the 25 seats. The SAD, in alliance with the BJP, was routed and could just manage three seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could not open its score. In 2007 and 2012, the SAD had managed to win emphatically in the region.

But this time, the strong Jat Sikh leadership in the region seems clearly upset. The famous ‘Majha brigade’, which dominated the Captain Amarinder Singh cabinet comprising Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa (Fatehgarh Churian, Gurdaspur), Sukjinder Randhawa (Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur) and Sukhbinder Sarkaria (Raja Sansi, Amritsar), is conspicuous by its absence. The Jat Sikhs that constitute 27 per cent of the voters feel that the Congress has failed the community.

The Congress leaders in the region admit that the decision has put them on the back foot but maintain a united facade. “The party considered certain caste combination while working out a strategy to win the elections. All of us have to respect that and work together as a team if we have to win,’’ remarked Rajya Sabha MP and Congress candidate from Qadian constituency, Partap Bajwa.

So which political party does this help?

“It (AAP) is an alternative but look at the way they have chosen the candidates. They have put up weak candidates. I guess there focus is more on Malwa and, like other parties, AAP believes that the road to romp home in Punjab is through Malwa and not Majha,’’ says Jagir Singh, a property dealer in Batala.

The announcement of the CM face by the Congress seems to have given SAD something to cheer about. With an angry Jat Sikh vote, the Akali Dal — which packages itself as a ‘Panthic party’ — hopes to encash politically. Also, the decision to field Bikram Majithia from Amritsar against Sidhu is being seen as a bold move.

Fifty-year-old cloth merchant Tosha Singh, who runs a shop in the vicinity of the Golden temple, is impressed with the SAD decision to field Bikram Majithia against Sidhu. “It’s a bold move. Majithia left the comfort zone of his constituency and decided to take Sidhu head-on which shows that Akalis are giving a fight.’’

Also, the SAD, sensing the mood on the ground, went ahead with the timely stitch of an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. “They have also announced a Dalit deputy CM,’’ says Jagrup, a Dalit villager in Hoshiarpur.

The BJP, which has been on the back foot over the farm laws, is hoping to cash in on the Hindu votes in Gurdaspur and Pathankot. “The good governance model of PM Modi is being accepted by the people of Punjab,’’ says Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma.

Doaba – the Dalit heartland

At the Jalandhar railway station on the eve of the Guru Ravidas birth anniversary, thousands of devotees board a special train to Varanasi, the birth place of the revered guru. Amongst them, the comment of a devotee Seth Mal perhaps explains how critical the Dalit vote is. “Special trains by the Centre, state government pitching in with all the help and workers from all political parties are floating around at the railway station to help us. Makes us feel important as it’s election time.’’

Almost 32 per cent of the total Dalit votes in the state come from the Doaba region which is dotted with a plethora of big and small deras. A reason why all eyes are on who these deras will support directly or indirectly.

Punjab’s biggest dera of Ravidassias, one of the most significant Dalit communities (Channi belongs to the Ravidassia community), is in the Doaba region with headquarters in Jalandhar, where the sect’s important centre, Dera Sachkhand Ballan, is situated. The dera has been witnessing politicians making a beeline from the time election dates had been declared.

While CM Channi decided to spend the night during his campaigns, leaders such as Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal have all visited the dera.

Here too an alliance with the BSP could give Akalis an advantage, though on the ground, Channi as the CM face has given a much needed push to the Congress campaign.

But the party is facing anti-incumbency as well. The Dalit CM card has not made much of an impact in the region as voters are choosing development work and allocation of funds over the caste card. “The Congress has been in power for the last four-and-a-half years, their MLAs have failed to deliver any of the promises in this region, so what is the use of changing a CM and continuing with the same candidates,’’ said Paramvir Singh of Sansarpur village in the Jalandhar Cantonment area which is in the Doaba region.

The AAP made the Punjab Assembly election a triangular contest in 2017 after decades of a bipolar fight between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The farmers’ agitation against the three central farm reform laws and rebellion of Navjot Singh Sidhu against former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh in the Congress have turned the Punjab assembly election into a multi-cornered, interesting fight this time around.

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