Finding it an uphill task to fight and win the battle alone against the Akalis, former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal has joined hands with his one-time foe, the Congress, to defeat the common enemy.
For Manpreet’s People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) and the Congress, the decision apparently was more a matter of compulsion than choice; and resolve to fight it out together may actually leave the Akalis struggling to gain ground.
But, Manpreet’s PPP is likely to be relegated to the position of just another supporting minority party as a result of the newfound alliance.
This is not what Manpreet believed. He said that the alliance with the Congress was “essential for the PPP’s political survival”.
Manpreet has tied up with the Congress to contest from Bathinda parliamentary seat against his sister-in-law and local MP Harsimrat Badal in the ensuing lok Sabha polls — a decision which has not gone down well with his close aide and comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann,
besides many others in the Congress too.
Unhappy over Manpreet’s decision to join hands with the party whose policies they criticised, Mann has decided to part ways with the PPP that was “constituted on March 27, 2011, with an aim to change the political scene of Punjab and to remove corruption, unemployment, poverty, drug menace, and all other evils”.
All set to join the AAP on Tuesday, Mann, in his resignation letter to the PPP chief, stated that he “disagree with the recent party decisions regarding upcoming lok Sabha polls”. like Mann, many other prominent party leaders have deserted the PPP’s sinking ship, leaving Manpreet alone.
As of now, no official announcement has been made by the Congress, Manpreet has all along been defending his decision. With PPP being a part of Sanjha Morcha, Manpreet also tried to strike a deal with the Congress forcing it to leave Faridkot parliamentary seat for its allied party — the Communist Party of India — and field Kashmir Singh.
Congress party is divided over the decision. While some believed that the party would be benefited with Manpreet joining hands with them in Bathinda and have capability to win seat for the party, other section maintained that it would lead to unrest among the local party cadre.
They maintained that
giving seat to Manpreet, by ignoring the local party worker who has been working in that area since long, would be a wrong decision.
In the same way, the party is holding divergent view on giving away Faridkot seat to CPI. While the CPI has ruled out alliance with the Congress considering it being a party of ‘third front’ at the national level, the Congress has also maintained that the decision in this regard is yet to be taken.
Up the ante against party’s move, senior Congress leader Jagmeet Brar on Monday alleged the party chief Partap Singh Bajwa for “misleading” the party high command regarding Manpreet.
He said: “The party is not going to be benefited by the Manpreet, and Bajwa is giving wrong picture to the high command that is why they agreed to have this alliance.”
Floated some three years back, the PPP failed to secure even single seat in the series of elections held during these years. The party failed to bag even one seat in the 2012 Assembly polls. In fact, Manpreet, who contested polls from two constituencies — his home ground Gidderbaha, and Maur Mandi — faced defeat.
Considering that PPP, along with CPI, CPI (M) and SAD (longowal) as Sanjha Morcha, has managed to pocket 5.17 per cent votes that cost Congress a defeat, the alliance is considered to be the applaudable move by the Congress.
Congress, despite facing a resounding defeat in 2012 state assembly polls, pocketed 40.11 per cent votes, against 34.75 per cent votes in favour of SAD, and 7.13 per cent for its ally, the BJP adding up to 41.88 per cent — difference of just 1.77 per cent votes.
In fact, the political experts concluded that the PPP candidates were responsible for the defeat of at least 15 Congress candidates by close margins.
Coming at the time when the anti-Congress wave is blowing across the country, the decision, attracting criticism and praise at the same time, is expected to benefit the Congress which has been witnessing series of defeats since 2012 Assembly polls as the party was also not able to find the suitable candidate from the seat.
With Manpreet entering the electoral battlefield from Bathinda with Congress, the constituency would witness the war between the Badal family.