27

Nov

Politics: Has BJP's experiment of fielding “imported”  candidates failed in Punjab?

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Prabhjot Singh

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Toronto, Canada | Wednesday | 27 November 2024

Has the experiment by the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janta Party of preferring “imported” candidates to its own cadre in the recent electoral battles failed to yield the desired results?

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won three -  Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Gidderbaha -  of four seats while the fourth seat – Barnala -  was won by Congress. Both Dera Baba Nanak and Gidderbaha were earlier with Congress while AAP candidate and now MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hyer represented Barnala. Dr Raj Kuma Chhabbewal who won from Chhabbewal in the 2022 assembly elections on Congress ticket also got elected to Lok Sabha after changing his loyalty to AAP. His son, Ishant, has now won the by-election as a candidate of AAP.

If the results of the just concluded four by-elections are any indication, the Punjab unit of the BJP has failed to record any electoral success this year. After its broken alliance with its traditional partner, Shiromani Akali Dal, it has not met with any major success in the recent battles of the ballot in this border state.

Its strategy of wooing Sikh leaders from other parties, including Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, worked successfully. But the second and final part of the strategy to strengthen its foothold in the State’s electoral battles by using “imported” Sikh faces has failed “miserably”.

 

Article at a Glance
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) strategy of favoring "imported" candidates over its own cadre in recent electoral battles has proven unsuccessful. In the latest by-elections in Punjab, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured three out of four seats, with Congress winning the remaining one.
Despite initially attracting Sikh leaders from other parties, the BJP's reliance on these external candidates failed to strengthen its foothold in the state. Notably, all BJP candidates, including former bureaucrats and diplomats, finished poorly in the elections. The once-dominant Shiromani Akali Dal also stayed away from the contests, further highlighting the BJP's declining influence.
This electoral outcome signifies a significant shift in Punjab politics, pushing both the BJP and its former ally, the Akali Dal, to the sidelines.

 

In the 2024 general elections, BJP fielded among others a just superannuated diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu from Amritsar, bureaucrat-turned politician Paramjeet Kaur Sidhu from Bathinda, Manjit Singh Manna from Khadoor Sahib, “imports” from Congress Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi from Ferozepore,  Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana, and Perneet Kaur from Patiala. Not only that but also all the remaining BJP candidates, including  Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, were defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP leadership rewarded the newly demonstrated loyalty of  Ravneet Singh Bittu, who lost his Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat to once his colleague in Congress, Raja Amarinder Singh Warring, by nominating him on the Union Council of Ministers and later got him into Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

The BJP woes did not end with the Lok Sabha elections debacle in Punjab. In the subsequent by-elections, BJP candidates continued to lick dust.

In the just concluded 4 by-elections in Punjab, where BJP put up all “imported” Sikh candidates, it finished a poor third in the triangular contests as the once-dominant and the oldest regional political outfit, Shiromani Akali Dal, stayed away from the by-elections necessitated the by-election of sitting MLAs to Lok Sabha.

BJP fielded Ravikiran Kahlon, son of former Punjab Speaker and Akali Dal leader  Nirmal Singh Kahlon, from Baba Bakala, former Shiromani Akali Dal Minister Sohan Singh Thandal from Chhabewal, former Congress legislator Kewal Dhillon from Barnala, and former Punjab Finance Minister in Parkash Singh Badal Akali Government and later a Congressman, Manpreet Singh Badal, from the Badals’ traditional stronghold Gidderbaha.

Once again, all the “imported” BJP candidates not only lost but were placed poor third in their respective constituencies. The by-elections marked a watershed in Punjab politics as both the partners in the once-ruling BJP-SAD alliance have been relegated to the sidelines.

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