Ferozepur will provide more than a passageway to a candidate for Lok Sabha this election. Set to witness the fiercest battle, a known Akali bastion Ferozepur parliamentary constituency is expected to decide the SAD’s future, in general, and its president Sukhbir Badal’s prospects in particular.
On the other hand, it was also a matter of prestige not only for the Congress but also for the sitting MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, who gave up the “scales” (Akali’s election symbol) to hold the “hand” (Congress’ election symbol), rebelling against the SAD chief for whom he had sacrificed his Jalalabad seat.
For Gubaya, the elections are important to prove that the force of his personality, and personal rapport work with the voters, and not the party symbol attached to his name during the two previous elections he won in 2009 and 2014.
And for the Congress, ticket to a turncoat Gubaya by overlooking other aspirants, including senior leaders, has put to test the party’s political pre-poll strategy.
SAD has been reigning over the constituency for the past quarter of a century with Ghubaya holding the fort for a decade, and a win this time would consolidate his position within the Congress.
The elections come at a time when the Akali Dal is facing its worst ever political crisis after its resounding defeat in 2017 state assembly polls — witnessing a rebelling within, challenging current leadership, resulting into exodus of several Taksali (traditional Akali) leaders splitting into a new faction, with Sukhbir’s loyalists too parting ways with the party.
Limited to just 15 seats after ruling the state for a decade, the prevailing state of affairs within the party compelled Sukhbir to step in electoral battlefield and lead his party from the front — in an apparent attempt to revive SAD’s dwindling fortunes and to provide the much-needed boost the demoralised party cadre.
But with the trusted soldier turning foe for Sukhbir, retaining the constituency for SAD has become a question of prestige for its president who has himself decided to throw his hat in the electoral ring making a comeback to the parliamentary elections after a gap of almost two decades.
Sukhbir’s decision is being seen as the party’s attempt to control the damage done to its image following 2015 sacrilege and related firing incidents.
Currently an MLA from Jalalabad — assembly segment that falls under Ferozepur constituency, Sukhbir was elected MP twice in 1996 and 2004 from Faridkot constituency.
After taking over the party reigns in 2008, Sukhbir has completely moved to the state politics, serving twice as the Deputy Chief Minister during the two consecutive terms of SAD from 2009 to 2017.
It was Ghubaya who had vacated his Jalalabad assembly seat in 2009, and agreed to contest from the Parliament, just to facilitate Sukhbir’s entry into state politics as Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. While Sukhbir has since been fighting from Jalalabad, Ghubaya won Ferozepur in 2009 and 2014.
But, SAD faced its worst ever defeat in 2017 state polls with the nascent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) snatching the position of the principal opposition party in the 117-member House that was followed a strong rebellion within the party with senior and traditional Akali leaders raising fingers at Sukhbir’s style of functioning.
Now putting his election management skills at work, Sukhbir is working hard to improve party’s prospects, first by fielding senior leaders and himself throwing his hat in the electoral ring, and also by inducting known names, like former MP Jagmeet Brar, Tohras, and others.
Moreover, he chose Ferozepur which is considered a safe seat for the party as it has largely remained unscathed by the protests against the sacrilege incidents that shook the state in 2015.
Being a local MLA, Sukhbir had nurtured Ferozepur, particularly Jalalabad assembly constituency, quite well during his term as the state deputy chief minister, carrying out considerable amount of development work in the area.
Confident of sailing through smoothly, Sukhbir is campaigning across the state for all party candidates, while limiting his appearances in Ferozepur. “It is the party workers who are contesting election in Ferozepur,” claimed Sukhbir.
Sukhbir consider Ghubaya as “no challenge” pointing that he was not getting support from the Congress. “Kalla bhajeya firda hai” (He is running around on his own), Sukhbir took a dig at Ghubaya’s campaigning.
For Sukhbir, Ferozepur constituency is the question of political survival and honour as the seat has been with SAD since past 30 years which he wanted to retain at any cost.
Ghubaya claimed that Sukhbir’s popularity is diminishing in Jalalabad considering the squeezing of winning margins. Sukhbir won 2017 elections by a margin of just 18,000 votes, against 82,000 votes in 2009 bypoll.
Ahead 2017 elections, Ghubaya had raised banner of revolt against SAD. So much so, that his son and wife formally joined the Congress, with Ghubaya openly supporting the Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu during assembly polls against “his party president” Sukhbir Badal in Jalalabad.
Congress, in return, rewarded Ghubaya’s son — Devinder Singh Ghubaya — with a party ticket from neighbouring Fazilka which paid dividends. Junior Ghubaya is now Congress MLA.
Ghubaya, days ahead the Lok Sabha elections, switched sides and Congress fielded him as its candidate. However, his candidature resulted in a strong dissidence within the party as none of the five Congress MLAs in Ferozepur parliamentary constituency came out to support him initially.
It was only after the party’s diktat that the Ministers and legislators would be held responsible for candidate’s performance in their constituency, that senior Congress leaders in the segment started drumming-up support for Ghubaya in the party’s larger interest.
Ghubaya — who hailed from the Rai Sikh community having a stronghold in the constituency with a sizable population — is banking on their support to score a hat-trick.
The past polls has witnessed that Rai Sikh community vote en masse, but this time, it was also divided between Sukhbir and Ghubaya. While pro-Sukhbir faction maintained that SAD chief brought development to the area, another faction is backing Ghubaya for being one from their community.
During his election speeches, Ghubaya talked about how the Badals, especially Sukhbir, disgraced him in the most agonizing way. Ghubaya claimed that Sukhbir, as deputy chief minister with the vigilance department under him, ordered a vigilance raid into colleges run by him. He also made it a point to mention how he “sacrificed” his Jalalabad seat in 2009 for Sukhbir.
Other than that, he is seeking votes by pointing that the contest was between “those who desecrated Guru Granth Sahib and one who has always served the people”.
The presence of other candidates — Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Harjinder Singh (Kaka Sran) and Punjab Democratic Alliance’s (PDA) Hans Raj Golden — it seems, would not make much difference, and the Ferozepur would witness a face-off between traditional rivals — the Congress and the Akalis.