Holding cards close to their chest, both the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are waiting for each other to “show”.
Biding one’s time, both the traditional political rivals have been waiting for the other to announce their candidates for May 19 elections, especially for the crucial seats of Bathinda, Amritsar, and Ferozepur.
As the SAD is planning to field party president Sukhbir Badal from Ferozepur and his Union Minister wife Harsimrat Badal from Bathinda, the Congress party maintained that they would wait for the party to make the formal announcement before declaring their candidates for the seat.
On the other hand, SAD is waiting for the Congress to make the first move in declaring its candidates leaving options open for itself.
“We are waiting for them to declare their candidates...We will see whom they field from Bathinda and other seats,” Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar told The Pioneer when asked about the party’s candidates from the crucial seats.
Among the frontrunners for the Congress ticket from Bathinda, the party is mulling to field the state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who had, in the recent past, had expressed his desire to contest elections against his sister-in-law Harsimrat Badal.
Bathinda has also witnessed a fight within the Badal family in 2014 elections, in which Harsimrat defeated her estranged brother-in-law, by a narrow margin. And considering the diminishing winning margins from 1,20,948 votes in 2009 Lok Sabha elections to 19,395 votes in 2014, SAD is now mulling to shift Harsimrat to the neighbouring Ferozepur which is seen as a safer bet this time.
Congress candidates from Ferozepur and Bathinda will depend on the Akali Dal’s move to shift Harsimrat to Ferozepur from Bathinda — which has been the epicentre of anti-sacrilege protests against the Badals, or Sukhbir may himself decide to throw his hat in the electoral ring from Ferozepur retaining Bathinda for Harsimrat.
For Bathinda seat, the name of Nirvan Singh, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s grandson, was also doing the rounds. With Capt Amarinder talking in terms of hanging his boots sooner, he may decide to introduce his daughter Jai Inder Kaur’s younger son Nirvan as his political heir.
Hailing from the Rai Sikh community holding sway over the Ferozepur seat, SAD rebel and sitting MP Sher Singh Ghubaya has already started his campaign after joining the Congress recently.
AT the same time, the state Cabinet Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi is also staking claim over the party ticket. Now with Sukhbir expected to enter the poll fray, the situation would change, and party would go in for a party heavyweight against SAD president.
Jakhar, at the same time, made clear his intentions of “not” contesting from Ferozepur, the seat he lost in 2014 elections against the then SAD candidate, Sher Singh Ghubaya. “I accepted the voters’ verdict...I have no complaints against anyone. Sukhbir may have ego, but I don’t, and I respectfully accept verdict of Ferozepur’s voters,” he said, while adding that he would contest from where his party leadership would ask him t, whether it is Ferozepur or Gurdaspur or anywhere else.
For Amritsar seat, the party is considering to field the cricketer-turned-politician and the state Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu in case the BJP comes up with a strong candidate just like it fielded BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in 2014 elections. To counter it, the Congress had fielded Capt Amarinder Singh.
Even as the time for campaigning is running out with little patience, both are looking at each other to cut the first turf, leaving the aspirants anxious.