The fight for electoral supremacy is turning out to be a prestige battle for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) at Talwandi Sabo.
Falling in Bathinda lok Sabha constituency, from where the Badal bahu Harsimrat Kaur won from a slender margin, Talwandi Sabo Assembly segment has virtually become a hot seat with the Akalis pumping in all their resources.
Another reason for enhanced concentration on Talwandi Sabo seat is fielding of a former Congress MlA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu on Akali ticket.
Sources in the party told The Pioneer that the SAD is more concerned on Talwandi Sabo seat, considering Patiala has always been a Congress citadel. Moreover, the seat falls under Bathinda, the Badals home constituency.
little apprehensive by Harsimrat's miniscule winning margin of just 19,395 votes during 2014 general elections, SAD is leaving no stone unturned to ensure party's victory on the seat in view of high stakes involved for the SAD due to several reasons.
The party has fielded sitting MlA Sidhu, who won on the Congress ticket, but later shifted his loyalties towards SAD, following which the bye-elections were necessitated. The constituency will go for bye-polls, along with Patiala urban segment, on August 21.
To ensure Sidhu's victory, the party has chalked out a comprehensive plan and has divided the entire constituency into zones. "Responsibility of each zone has been given to a minister, MlA or an MP who will concentrate completely on that area," a senior SAD leader said, requesting anonymity.
The Akali leader maintained that major concentration of senior party leaders is in Talwandi Sabo, as compared to Patiala. Among other leaders, Cabinet Ministers including Sikandar Singh Maluka, Bikram Singh Majithia, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Surjit Kumar Jyani, Ajit Singh Kohar, Gulzar Singh Ranike, and others, have been deployed in the constituency.
Even as Harsimrat bagged 44 per cent of the votes polled in the assembly segment during 2014 lok Sabha polls against Congress' 34 per cent share, the party is in no mood to relax by fielding three-time MlA, especially after SAD's "not-so-good" performance in parliamentary polls.
Sidhu, during 2012 Assembly polls, won the seat by getting 53,730 votes by a margin of 8,524 votes.
Out of the 1,07,034 total votes polled during lok Sabha elections in this Assembly segment, SAD-BJP candidate bagged 47,305 votes, leaving behind her nearest rival Congress-people's Party of Punjab's joint candidate Manpreet Badal by 11,254 votes. Aam Aadmi Party's Jasraj Singh longia received 15,557 votes.
The party believed that many factors are working against it in the constituency. "After fielding Sidhu, a section of SAD is unhappy and it would be a big job to take them together," said the leader. On the contrary, party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has claimed that no one is opposing Sidhu's candidature in the party.
It would be a big task for Sidhu to seek votes for the SAD after campaigning against it in the 2012 polls, when people elected him from the seat for the third time.
What is more worrying for the SAD was that Sidhu, during his 2012 election campaign, has openly opposed Dera Sacha Sauda - Haryana-based sect, headed by controversial guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who is facing charges of rape and murder - that holds a sway in the Malwa, especially among Dalit Sikhs.
The party believed that Dera followers would go against Sidhu, especially when the Congress party has fielded its Bathinda's former MlA Harminder Singh Jassi, a close relative of Ram Rahim.
Both Sidhu and Jassi have also been pitted against each other earlier. Known to be traditional rivals, the two have locked horns in the electoral battle from the constituency in the past and defeated each other once. Jassi was first elected MlA from Talwandi Sabo constituency in 1992. In 1997 assembly polls, he defeated Sidhu, who had contested as SAD candidate by a margin of 3,193 votes.
later in 2002 assembly polls, Sidhu contested as an independent after SAD denied him ticket, and went on to beat Jassi, a Congress candidate, by a thin margin of 237 votes.
After Sidhu joined the Congress, when it came to power in the state in 2002, that made Jassi to shift his base to Bathinda (urban) assembly segment.
Further, with the entry of Aam Aadmi Party in the State's electoral politics by scoring 24 per cent of votes during lok Sabha elections, is also a cause of concern for both the SAD and Congress.
AAP, while drawing a blank in the entire country, finished second after SAD in Punjab by winning four seats.
Making last minute changes, AAP has fielded a lecturer Baljinder Kaur from the constituency after replacing a renowned Punjabi singer Balkar Sidhu following allegations of human trafficking against him.
Adding another dimension to the triangular battle, Balkar Sidhu has filed his nomination as an "independent", while the AAP's state leadership, including Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, is making efforts to appease him and withdrew his candidature before August 6 - the last day to withdraw nominations.
All set to launch an aggressive election campaign, the SAD leaders have shift their base to Talwandi Sabo from August 1 till the bye-poll is over. Besides Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir, Harsimrat will also campaign for Sidhu.