E-Paper
With new stroke in Punjab, will Sidhu be a mega-scorer or a mega-spoiler?
On Friday, a troika of political renegades, Navjot Sidhu, Pargat Singh and the Bains brothers, dramatically unveiled themselves as a rallying pivot for a fourth front in electoral slugfest that has so far been taking the shape of a three-horse race among the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine, Congress and AAP.
Hardly six months before Punjab goes to high-stakes assembly polls, a new political landscape has emerged in the state. On Friday, a troika of political renegades — Navjot Singh Sidhu, Pargat Singh and the Bains brothers — dramatically unveiled themselves as a rallying pivot for a fourth front in the electoral slugfest, which had so far been taking the shape of a three-horse race among the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu’s latest political stroke comes as a sequel to his ambitious move to seek a new innings with the AAP. That had come to a naught. After a rather hasty resignation as a Rajya Sabha MP, the firebrand BJP leader found himself left in the lurch. For, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, sure of Sidhu’s diminished bargaining chips and options, played hardball, spurning his demand to be designated as the face of AAP in Punjab.
But, just when the former opening batsman seemed to have done a hit-wicket, he has sprung this surprise, rolling out a loaded dice that is set to unleash new alignments and reshape the contest.
In his quest to forge a regional political force — grandiosely christened ‘Awaaz-e-Punjab’ or ‘Voice of Punjab’ — Sidhu has roped in former Indian hockey captain and a sitting Akali MLA Pargat Singh, who was recently suspended by his party for a stand against deputy chief minister and SAD boss Sukhbir Singh Badal; and the Bains brothers, Independent legislators who had rebelled and fallen out with the SAD before the 2012 polls.
Read | ‘Awaaz-e-Punjab’ is band of fugitive leaders: Badal
A thread that binds Sidhu’s partners is their reputation as trenchant street-fighters against the ruling Badals. Another thing that’s common is that they were all secretly and separately bargaining for a place on the AAP bandwagon which until recently seemed unstoppable. Not surprisingly, ‘anti-Badalism’ will be their ringtone to tap into the anti-incumbency ire dogging the Akali-BJP regime after two consecutive terms.
Right now, however, it’s not for the Akalis to really worry. Truth be told, the new formation has sent shivers down the spines of both the AAP and Congress.
Sidhu has carefully chosen the timing of his gambit, aimed as much at extracting a sweet revenge on the AAP as it is at positioning himself as the lynchpin of fresh alignments. He has struck vengefully when the AAP in Punjab is virtually imploding and has lost much of the steam it had gathered from a deep-seated popular disenchantment against traditional players.
Worse, Sucha Singh Chhotepur’s suspension as Punjab AAP convener — in the wake of an internally-orchestrated, cash-packet sting — has led to a vertical split in the rookie party. The Chhotepur-led rebel faction is highly likely to make common cause with the Sidhu-led formation. With this, AAP is staring at more desertions as the breakaway group plans to pitch itself as the “real AAP” in Punjab.
Even for the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress, the emergence of a fourth front is a potential boat-rocker. Already unnerved by the AAP challenge, the Congress fears the new front would further slice away the anti-Badal vote, which the Grand Old Party is majorly counting on to not only come to power in Punjab, but also for a broader, national rebound strategy.
That’s precisely the reason for the Akalis to smile. The ruling alliance smells an opportunity in multiple vote-splitters. “A division in anti-Badalism is our ultimate hope to stay in the game,” admits an Akali strategist and aide to CM Parkash Singh Badal.
Sidhu has credibility and charisma on his side. A rabble-rouser, he can fire up the poll scene and even emerge as the third, not fourth, force in terms of optics and decibels.
On the downside, none of the opening quartet of Sidhu formation has a pan-Punjab mass base — at best, they are local leaders. Nor do they have organisational muscle and committed cadre.
But, the moot question is: Will it be a mega-challenger or a mega-spoiler? After all, Punjab’s electoral history is strewn with epitaphs of failed third fronts.
Read | Fourth front is here because AAP has failed: Navjot Kaur Sidhu
