The Akalis are fighting the Moga battle on two fronts. Training their guns at the Congress, the Akalis are also fortifying their defenses to deal with their own men who are dampening the spirits of the party soldiers from within.

Just about a week is left before the two sides clash on the political turf in Moga; and the top brass of the Akali leadership is out campaigning to improve the party prospects in the bye-elections.

SAD president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has been away from Chandigarh to Moga to battle it out ever since his party tasted success in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee elections in January.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal too is out in the field, along with the entire party leadership, to boost the morale of the party soldiers out in the battlefield to prepare for the big day. But, the Akalis are yet to strike a consolatory note with two of its leaders entrenched in Moga.

On the other hand, in fairly strong position, the Congress is targeting the ruling party for sheltering a “betrayer” who “betrayed people’s faith” for his own interests who elected him twice on Congress ticket. Now SAD-BJP candidate, Joginder Pal Jain had resigned as Moga MlA while deserting Congress and joining Akali Dal - the development that necessitated the bypoll.

At the same time as Sukhbir announced Jain’s candidature as party candidate for the bypoll, the announcement did not go down well with the former DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill - party’s candidate in 2012 Assembly polls, and sitting Dharamkot MlA Tota Singh - whose son is nurturing the constituency.

The supporters of ‘disgruntled’ party leaders - sitting Dharamkot MlA Tota Singh and former DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill - are far from putting up with the candidature of Joginder Pal Jain as the party candidate in the Moga bypoll.

Considering their support base in the region, the party leadership did not want to offend them, as the two are expected to play a crucial role for the ruling alliance.

Even as the Badal duo has been making sure that the two leaders remain visible on the party stages during the campaigning period, the supporters of both these leaders are staying away and not backing the “turncoat” Jain.

Refusing to toe the party line, their supporters are, in fact, time and again, giving tongue to their resentments, in different ways. Some are deserting the party, while others are approaching the party leadership directly. On the other hand, efforts are on to assuage them.

The supporters of both Tota Singh and Gill see Makhan Brar and Gill as likely SAD candidates from this seat in the 2017 Assembly elections if Jain loses the by-election.

After making it clear not to support Jain as SAD candidate, Gill’s election agent in 2012 Assembly polls, Ajay Sood is now supporting Congress candidate Vijay Sathi.

It is believed that Sood was behind circulating posters highlighting Jain’s ‘betrayal’ among the residents in Moga city. The two posters, being circulated, are portraying Jain as a defector and his journey of shifting loyalties from Congress to BJP, to again Congress and then SAD; and how “betrayed” 62,200 voters of Moga who had polled in his favour in 2012 Assembly elections.

This is not all! One of Tota Singh’s aides has shot off an open letter to party president, and even circulated its copies in Moga.

A local advocate, Narinder Pal Singh Chahal, has stated that Sukhbir had committed a “big mistake” by inducting Jain into SAD.

In an effort to accommodate Gill in 2012 election, Tota Singh was shifted to Dharmkot. However, his son had been working in Moga constituency and eyeing this seat which was with the Congress till now.

Facing a daunting task of winning over a ‘reluctant’ Akali cadre, Congress MlA-turned-Akali Jain is paying the price of entering the enemy’s territory. Apparently on his own in the new party, Jain has come up with his own team consisting of former Congressmen who defected to the Akali Dal along with him to win the battle for his prestige.

Gill and Tota Singh had also maintained that they were supporting Jain’s candidature, and so are their supporters. “Parties sometimes did take wrong decisions but we are loyal party worker and duty bound to support the party candidate,” one of Gill’s close aide, indicating at allotting ticket to Jain, told The Pioneer.

He added that many of our supporters have refused to back Jain. “They are of the view that supporting a candidate whom they had opposed indignantly a previous year is not acceptable,” he added.