With the Election Commission setting the stage for next electoral battle in Punjab by announcing bypoll for the two vacant seats — Patiala and Talwandi Sabo — on August 21, the poll fever has gripped the State again.
While Patiala seat fall vacant after sitting Congress MlA Capt Amarinder Singh was elected as MP from Amritsar in May, Talwandi Sabo seat was vacated after sitting Congress MlA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu not only resigned from the primary membership of the Congress but also as Vidhan Sabha member to join the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in March this year.
SAD, a day before, announced Sidhu as its candidate, while Congress is yet to zero in on any name. After three-time Talwandi Sabo MlA left the Congress in the lurch, it is juggling between the names of former Bathinda MlA Harminder Singh Jassi, Youth Congress leader Subhash Singh, among others.
As the experts believed the scales are titled in Sidhu’s favour who is enjoying an edge over his rival candidates considering being a ruling party candidate and sitting MlA, the party’s “not-so-good” performance in Bathinda parliamentary seat in 2014 general elections is also seen as a warning signal.
On the other hand, the Congress has almost made up its mind to field the former Union Minister and Capt Amarinder’s wife Preneet Kaur from Patiala Assembly constituency. The four-time Patiala MP is reported to have received party high command’s signal to start her campaign in the segment.
However, grapevine is that the name of royal scion Raninder Singh is also doing the rounds, considering a “safe seat” for him to enter the political arena. Raninder had, so far, been unsuccessful in his two electoral battle — in 2009 lok Sabha polls against SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur in Bathinda, and in 2012 Assembly elections against Akali Dal’s Surjit Singh Rakhra from Samana.
It has been argued that Patiala — the Congress bastion especially the Patiala royal family headed by former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder — could be the only “safe” and “right” stepping stone for the son of royal couple, Capt Amarinder and Preneet Kaur, who have been in the political battlefield since decades.
It was also being speculated that after serving as Union Minister, contesting Assembly polls for the first time could be a political demotion for the four-time Patiala MP. The State party chief and also the high command have left it on the Capt Amarinder to take the final call on his replacement, which would be someone from the royal family.
In all eight polls since 1998, including five lok Sabha and three Assembly polls, the Congress has won Patiala assembly constituency with huge margins, while the SAD’s vote share has gone down. It was in 1997 that Akali Dal won Patiala when Capt Amarinder was missing from Punjab’s political canvass.
However, in recent parliamentary elections, a new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s candidate Dr Dharamveera Gandhi left everyone shocked by defeating sitting MP Preneet Kaur.
Undecided over the candidate yet, SAD is mulling over the names of Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra’s younger brother Charanjit Singh Dhaliwal, a prominent Hindu face and Congress turncoat Vishnu Sharma, among others.
As the AAP only succeeded in securing all four seats in Punjab alone, it presence in these by-polls would add an interesting third dimension to the State ballot battle.
Even as the SAD-BJP alliance has won all elections, including two by-polls — Moga and Dasuya during its seven year regime since 2007 when it formed the Government in Punjab, the two by-poll would be a litmus test for the alliance, especially after disappointing lok Sabha poll result in the State.