Aam Aadmi Party’s loss may eventually turn out to be the Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) gain. Sitting Fatehgarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa’s move to join the saffron brigade, of late, may not only give the saffron brigade a prominent Sikh face, but may also improve the party’s prospects in the ensuing elections.
With the negligible presence in the state as of now, the saffron brigade has been on a constant look out for strong and winnable faces, especially a Sikh leader, that could help it make a comeback in Punjab after May 19 elections.
Earlier, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was holding the fort for the party. But since he moved on to join the Congress party, BJP was left in the lurch.
As per fresh surveys, the saffron party is apprehending a wipe out from the state. At present, the party has just one parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha, and three legislators in the Vidhan Sabha.
At the time when the nation was swept by Modi wave in 2014 polls, BJP won two seats in Punjab, out of the total three it contested in alliance with the SAD. However, the number came down to just one after it lost 2017 Gurdaspur by-election.
During 2017 state assembly elections, the party could secure just three seats, out of total 23 it contested in alliance with SAD registering a dip of 12 percent votes in its share in previous assembly elections.
Adding star power to its election campaign and with the help of a strong Sikh face, the BJP is now trying to ensure a bigger and better presence in the state politics.
On one hand, the party is juggling between the names of Bollywood actors Sunny Deool, Akshey Khanna, Poonam Dhillon and Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh, it has taken on board Harinder Sikh Khalsa, a Sikh leader, who had stunned his rivals in Fatehgarh Sahib constituency during 2014 general elections.
Khalsa, a former Indian diplomat who resigned in protest against the Operation Bluestar in 1984, had defeated Congress’ sitting MLA Sadhu Singh Dharamsot with 54,144 votes from the reserved seat.
The party is now considering Khalsa as a suitable candidate for Hoshiarpur — a reserved seat, and Amritsar — a panthic seat, in view of his credentials in both areas. But chances of Khalsa, a scheduled caste, being party candidate from Hoshiarpur are more as BJP is mulling to replace its sitting MP and Union Minister Vijay Sampla who is facing stiff opposition within the party, especially in his constituency.
The party was thinking to replace Sampla with the sitting Phagwara MLA Som Parkash, who was backed by the state party leadership against Sampla. Notably, Parkash lost 2009 general elections to Congress’ Santosh Chowdhary by a slim margin of 366 votes.
Parkash, who has been two-time MLA from Phagwara, is a retired bureaucrat who had served as Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner for many years, and is in the know of the issues of the district.
However, Parkash was not considered to be a strong bet to replace a sitting MP and the Union Minister, which may send wrong signals amongst the voters, despite the fact that party surveys have favoured him as party’s Hoshiarpur candidate over Sampla.
At the same time, the pro-Sampla faction is projecting Khalsa as a better choice to replace the Union Minister.
Moreover, the BJP, which had fielded its stalwart Arun Jaitley from Amritsar during previous general elections, wanted to field a strong candidate, at least to match his stature. And despite having all the panthic credentials, the saffron party may not field a dalit leader from the holy city which is dominated by Hindu and Jat Sikh voters.