CHANDIGARH Despite fielding Sikh faces in the recently held bypolls in four assembly segments—Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal, Giddarbaha and Barnala—ruling fascist Hindutva political party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has failed to evoke response of people of India-administered Punjab, especially Sikhs. 

In these elections, this party fielded turncoats of other parties including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Badal) and Congress. However, this strategy failed to bear fruit. Instead, three of four BJP candidates lost their security deposits. 

In Dera Baba Nanak, BJP candidate Ravikaran Singh Kahlon (5 percent) could only garner 6505 votes, while Sohan Singh Thandal got 8692 votes in Chabbewal. In Giddarbaha, its nominee Manpreet Singh Badal got 12227 votes, while Kewal Singh Dhillon secured 17958 votes in Barnala. 

Of all these four candidates of the saffron party, only Dhillon could save his security deposit. 

All the candidates faced this fate despite being high profile politicians in Punjab. Tallest leader is Manpreet Badal who is nephew of five-times CM Parkash Badal and has been finance minister of Punjab. He had even floated his own political party ‘People Party of Punjab’ (PPP) that secured sizable vote share in 2012 elections. 

Dhillon, being Congress leader, has been MLA from Barnala from 2007 to 2017, while Thandal, being SAD (B) leader, was elected as MLA from Chabbewal. Kahlon is son of former Punjab assembly speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and has been active in Gurdaspur district since long. As SAD (B) nominee, Kahlon secured more than 52000 votes from Dera Baba Nanak in 2022 elections and lost to Congress’ Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa by only 466 votes. 

The BJP came a distant third in all four Assembly byelections and failed to derive any consolation from the results. 

The votes drawn by the BJP candidates were mostly cast by the Hindu population, that too with the local personal influence of the contenders, writes veteran Sikh journalist Karamjit Singh, former assistant editor of Punjab Tribune, while appealing to these Sikh politicians to reconsider their move to join this party which has been working incorporate minority communities into Hinduism at the behest of its mother party, RSS.

The saffron party has been making persistent efforts to expand its base in Punjab and woo Sikhs for a long time. Former Chief Minister Parkash Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal who is currently heading the SAD (B), helped it in achieving its goal. Earlier, the BJP had a limited base in Punjab. The Badal family which has been at the helm of the Akali Dal for the last many decades, formed an unconditional alliance with the BJP and took it to the power in 1997 assembly elections. Since then, the Hindutva party has been expanding its base in Punjab. 

Apart from the regime of 1997-2002, SAD (B)-BJP remained in power from 2007 to 2017. This 10-year long tenure further strengthened the BJP and its rank and file in Punjab. While making the BJP get strengthened in Punjab, the Badals never took care of the interests of Sikhs. They paved the way for expansion of the BJP at the cost of Sikh interests. 

Thanks to Badals, BJP was able to infiltrate into Sikh institutions including Takht Sri Hazur Sahib Management Board, Takht Patna Sahib Managing Committee. It totally took over the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC).  

Under pressure of farmer agitation, Badal family had to sever ties with BJP in 2021. After that the Hindutva party has been working tirelessly to form a government solely in the Sikh homeland by luring the Sikh leaders. 

Owing to the personal base and influence of the Sikh leaders who joined the party by compromising with the principles, vote share of this party increased, though it won no seat, and it was hoping for better performance in the bypolls. However, it has faced a major setback. It seems that the Sikh masses have understood its hidden agenda which is aimed at converting the Indian Union into complete “Hindu Rashtra” and carry out cultural assimilation of the religious-ethnic communities including Sikhs. 

Truly, the shameful debacle in the bypoll has upset its mission of forming a government in the 2027 assembly election.  

Notably, for aiding BJP for a long time, Badals and the party they have been leading, have also lost their credibility in Sikh masses. Since 2017, this party too has been facing debacles. Its representation in the Punjab assembly has been reduced to only three MLAs, while in parliament, it has only one representative.  

Hardeep Singh