It’s going to be Badal versus Badal in lambi, after all. Years after relatives turned foe, lambi is all set to turn into a political battlefield, with Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh supporting former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s decision to take on his Chief Minister uncle Parkash Singh Badal in his home ground.
A day after Badal’s estranged nephew, Manpreet Badal, expressed his willingness to contest from lambi against the five-time Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder not only backed his decision but assured to make him defeat his “taya ji”.
“If Manpreet wants to contest from lambi, party has no objection in fielding him as its candidate and he will get the full support of the Congress party in the polls,” said Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Capt Amarinder on Thursday on the sidelines of a party function at Sangrur.
Manpreet has set the political temperature soaring high by expressing his willingness to contest against his uncle in his citadel in the next State Assembly polls in 2017.
Manpreet has a lot at stake. lambi may virtually prove to be his political graveyard in case he fails to rise up to victory from the debris of his previous defeats. Ever since Manpreet parted ways with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) after resigning from the coveted Finance Minister’s post, he has tasted defeat in two elections.
The political party floated by him, People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), too remained a non-starter, and was eventually merged with the Congress in January this year.
Manpreet had broken away from the SAD and quit as State Finance Minister in the SAD-BJP Government in 2010 over the differences between him and the rest of the party on the issue of debt waiver offer from the then Central Government led by the Congress.
His party failed to secure even a single seat in 2012 polls, but do much damage to the Congress by forcing them to sit in the opposition for second consecutive term.
After the breaking of ties between the two families in 2010, Manpreet’s father and Badal’s younger brother, Gurdas Singh Badal, contested 2012 State Assembly polls from lambi against senior Badal as PPP candidate.
Congress, on the other hand, was laying its bet on another member of the Badal family — Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, Badal’s cousin. However, with Manpreet merging his political outfit, PPP, with the Congress, the party is expected to field “young” Badal against the political veteran and five-time Chief Minister, which is expected to be his last poll battle.
What goes in Manpreet’s favour is his vote share during 2014 lok Sabha polls, which he contested against Badal’s daughter-in-law and now Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda on Congress’ symbol.
Although Manpreet lost the polls, he managed to considerably bring down Harsimrat’s victory margin from over one lakh votes in 2009 elections against Congress’ Raninder Singh, Capt Amarinder’s son, to just 19,395 votes in 2014 polls.
“Manpreet could be the perfect choice to take on Badal in his home ground. He knows the working of Badals, their positives and negatives…rest depends on the party high command,” a senior Congress leader told The Pioneer.
Manpreet, a day before during a press briefing, had stated that it would be “a matter of pride” for him if the party asked him to contest the Assembly polls due in 2017 against his uncle.
The former Finance Minister had also maintained that he had urged the Congress high command to utilise his services in campaigning in State Assembly polls instead of making him contest, but the party’s central leadership want him to contest and he would contest from any constituency he’d be asked to.