Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a Gujarati made it big in pre-Independent Punjab where he founded and popularised the Arya Samaj. But all his followers were Hindus and Saraswati had to no following in the Sikh community. Reason: he decried the Sikh gurus in his speeches leading to antipathy among the Sikhs.
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) was formed in 1951, and soon became popular among sections of Hindus who migrated from across the border. This was because the public perceived the BJS to be a party espousing the same philosophy as the Arya Samaj. Naturally, the Sikhs kept away from the party, which later metamorphosed into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power at the Centre since 2014.
But how does all this have a connection with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s victory in Punjab in the assembly polls?
Strange though it seems, there is. The Sikhs comprise 57.69 percent of the population of Punjab, and the only state where the Sikhs are in a majority. Their historical antipathy makes sure that they don’t usually vote for the BJP. The only times they have was when the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was the senior partner of an alliance with the BJP.
The SAD perceived that the Union government was not supporting the cause of farmers who had resorted to a prolonged strike at Delhi’s borders. It recalled its minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union ministry, and walked out of that alliance in September 2020.
The Congress was doing well in Punjab for a long time under Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, a scion of the princely family of Patiala. However, just a few months before the assembly elections, Singh was removed at the instance of Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi thought that his writ ran across the party, but Singh was no pushover and saw himself nothing short of a maharaja.
To complicate matters was cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, better known for his ‘one-liners’ and false sense of humour, who came to occupy an important position in the Punjab Congress. Singh was replaced in what Gandhi thought was a masterstroke. Charanjit Singh Channi was a junior minister in the Punjab government and Gandhi thought that his appointment as Chief Minister would be a great move because he was a Dalit. The Dalits comprise 32 percent of the electorate of Punjab, till then no Dalit had become Chief Minister.
But whatever is good in theory does not necessarily translate into good practice. Soon it became public that Channi’s close relatives were allegedly resorting to corrupt practices and scooping out earth from the banks of the River Sutlej and selling it off. True or not, the allegations stuck.
The people at large developed strong antipathy against the Congress because of these developments. This resulted in Channi losing both the seats he contested from. Singh also lost, and so did Sidhu. The Congress ultimately won just 18 seats in an assembly of 117.
The SAD had previously fallen from grace when it led the state government in the previous term. Remaining in the opposition for five years did little to work out for them. Widespread corruption allegations in the previous years had done enough to damp their chances even this time around. As a result, the SAD won only four seats. Its performance was only better than the BJP that won two assembly seats, demonstrating that it had no following among Sikhs.
Fed up with the existing parties, the public decided to place their bets on a new party. That’s how AAP, hitherto concentrating in the national capital territory of Delhi, managed to win 92 seats and Punjab. Though he has announced the name of the Chief Minister (Bhagwant Mann), AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has indicated that it be will a common man’s government focusing on education and health. Mann said that in a new trend government offices will now have the pictures of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar, and none of current political leaders that had become the trend in present Punjab.
In the weeks and months ahead it has to be seen how things work out.
Kingshuk Nag is an author and journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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