An apolitical dilemma

Sarbjit Dhaliwal in Chandigarh

The crisis in our political landscape is that some people tend to think, and they are interrupted by facts. Something of the sort has happened in the case of Amritsar’s Navjot Singh Sidhu, the swashbuckling batsman of yesteryear, who is given to humour as much as, to wit, oversimplifying the company he kept off the field. And then he contemplated his career and fate. His ‘crime’ remains undefined and his deeds predictive. In the end, he wanted to perform as he did on the field, but couldn’t know how, off the field. Something of the sort Pargat Singh, too, displayed with ‘hope against hope’ writ large on the former hockey captain’s fate. 

The two have had second thoughts. Sidhu has actually declared himself out of the BJP, and Pargat is seriously doubting his position post suspension from Akali Dal. Diminutively, Sidhuism has come a long way, from claptrap TV shows to forced laughter, to serious inspirational thoughts to parliamentary bravado. The result is yet to come, but the larger question has been set: whatever has happened to the apolitical class of politicians? Is it disillusionment? Is it plain rejection of a self-inflicted ‘thoughtless’ action or a miasmic mediocrity of the political kind? 

As Punjab heads for Assembly polls, several sports persons are set to jump into the fray wearing their party symbols. May you select the best: 

Over to Sidhu, first. March, 2004: Sidhu had finished his mandatory meditation and was ready for a shower in a hotel room at Rawalpindi. He was a commentator for an Indo-Pakistan cricket series. A phone call stopped him midway. The caller told him that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to talk. Nervous to the core, Sidhu heard Vajpayee talking in Hindi: “Kamar bandh lo, aur maidan me ajao (get ready and be there on the ground)”. Before Sidhu could react, the phone got disconnected. A few days back Pramod Mahajan too had tried to convince him to join the BJP, but he had refused.

As Sidhu thought on endlessly, his decision seemed a forgone conclusion. He contested from Amritsar as a BJP nominee. He was a Malwai from Patiala and was contesting from the land of Majhails. But Sidhu won with a big margin defeating the veteran and well rooted congress leader RL Bhatia. In 2009, he was the only BJP candidate to be elected from the states including Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Uttrakhand and Chandigarh (UT). The parliamentary polls were a washout for the BJP. 

His problems with the BJP started mounting after 2009 and peaked in 2014. The party chose Arun Jaitley from Amritsar, a seat from where Sidhu was elected thrice. He had also had several run-ins with Akali leaders over development projects in Amritsar. The much chagrined Akalis wanted to oust Sidhu. Jaitley lost by a big margin. But objective of some BJP-Akali leaders was achieved. 

Sidhu continued to call a spade a spade and resigned from the Rajya Sabha seat on which he was nominated by the BJP some months ago. He is expected to join the Aam Admi Party (AAP). The Congress too wants him. The ease of staying at the crease as a batsman has vanished. 

Pargat Singh

“I was always a team player. I never played to the gallery. I was a defender and joined politics to defend the rights of the people. When I saw my mission not being fulfilled, I spoke for my people without bothering about the consequences,” says Pargat Singh. He said he has sensed a big gap between people and politicians. 

Sources close to Pargat say the star hockey player was led up the political garden path by the Akalis in 2012, just a few days before the Punjab Assembly polls. The best deep defender and dribbler of the ball failed to get past the well-entrenched political class. He refused to take oath as a chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) saying he would be happy if issues raised by him about his constituency are addressed on a priority. Today, he too has suitors in AAP and Congress.

Kartar Singh 

A few months ago, Singh, joined AAP. He is one of the known faces in India’s wrestling world. He won gold medal in Asian Games in 1978 and 1986 and represented the country in the Olympics in 1980, 1984 and 1988. He also remained Director, Sports, Punjab for some years. “ I met Arvind Kejriwal at a wrestling Akhara in Delhi. Though, he is chief minister, he came across as an ordinary man. He spent more than an hour with us in a hall where everyone was sweating beacuse of humidity. But he did not show any uneasiness,” says Kartar Singh. 

“We will try hard to remove corruption and other evils from the system”, he declares. His efforts would be to get clean and honest people in politics. Watch the space.

Sajjan Singh Cheema

The cager and former police officer says he is political novice. “I have joined AAP to serve the people and not for any personal ambition,” says Cheema. There is need to change the power and politics in the state. “We want law to prevail,” he says. 

“Today, even for a ration card and old age pension, one has to approach a politician,” he says. Over the years, a negative image of the politician has taken roots in the minds of the people,” he said.  “I want to remove the fear of the police and politician from people’s mind. That’s possible by providing them clean and honest system of administration.” 

Rajbir Kaur

She is perhaps the only hockey player, who has played in four Asian games starting 1982. She was the best scorer in 1982. “It is a fact that politicians do not allow sports persons to thrive in politics. We need to counter this,” says Rajbir, adding that both Pargat and Sidhu were star players but politicians treated them with contempt. 

“I am working as an AAP volunteer and I have joined this party to bring about a change in the system to make it better for the people of our state,” she says. “In sports, we accept challenges. Obviously, the challenge in politics is to change the system, to make it clean and corruption-free. I am sure, we will live up to the expectations of the people.”