People’s Pulse - Doaba: Oppn senses real opportunity as Punjab Cong fights dissent

Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 7

Doaba proved to be a Congress stronghold in 2017 as the party pocketed 15 of the 23 Assembly seats in the region, a far better showing than 2012, when it could win only six. As Punjab goes to polls early next year, the ruling party, which resonated with confidence in Doaba and elsewhere in the state till some months ago, is confronted with an unexpected challenge from within as voices of dissent get louder, and the Opposition suddenly senses a real opportunity.

Farmers may hold key

• 43% of total voters are Dalits. Christian deras of Dalits could influence polls
• 25% of population comprises farming community, which may hold the key
• The 2015 sacrilege incidents, which led to protests across the state, do not figure among the major poll issues in the Doaba region

Dalit voters constitute a sizable 43 per cent of the total electorate in Doaba, but the divisions are stark, as are the affiliations. This ensures the voting patterns change only marginally, if at all. Poll pundits, therefore, feel the farming community, which accounts for 25 per cent of the population in the region, could hold the key in 2022.

Parties gearing up for electoral fight

• Cong The party is trying hard to recover lost ground due to internal differences, but its problems are far from over
• SAD Post its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Akalis look upbeat. They are certain of making gains in certain areas with the help of its ally
• AAP The Aam Aadmi Party, which won two seats in Doaba in 2017, has not been able to build upon its base after Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira quit
• BJP It won the Phagwara seat in 2017 in alliance with SAD. It recently inducted former AISSF leader Harinder Singh Kahlon

Farmers sitting on the borders of Delhi for the past more than seven months have not opened their political cards, and since they are getting open support from various sections of the society, including traders, arhtiyas and Ravidassias, no one party can lay claim to be their prime backer.

While acknowledging that the farmer unrest could prove to be a major election plank, senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia feels it’s a pan-Punjab issue and Doaba is no exception. “We still have sufficient time though. There could a successful round of talks soon.”

The Congress, meanwhile, is busy recovering lost ground owing to differences within the party, though its problems of dissidence are far from over. As rebel MLA Pargat Singh, who has taken on Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for “not fulfilling promises to voters” says, “The Congress can still get an upper hand and win the polls provided the state leadership changes hands.”

Former Congress minister Avtar Henry feels the “existing situation could be a cause of concern” in the region. “Doaba, which had six ministers from the region in the previous Congress regime in 2002-07, has just one representation this time in the Cabinet. Sunder Sham Arora and Rana Gurjit Singh got the berth but the latter lost it far too quickly (after the sand mining contract controversy).” Post the alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Akalis look upbeat in certain areas. Shiromani Akali Dal MLA from Adampur Pawan Tinu, who incidentally is a former BSP leader, however, feels the new alliance partner’s core members may not be fully on board with BSP supremo Mayawati’s decision to ink a pact with the SAD, contesting 23 of the 117 seats. BSP state president Jasvir Singh Garhi though discounts the concerns. “There were some initial reservations within the rank and file regarding seat sharing but since the party supremo has already reiterated that the pact is final, everyone has begun to fall in line.”

Underlining the importance of the Dalit card, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP SS Dullo was seen supporting the SC students against his own party on the Post Matric Scholarship issue, recently. This had led to SC Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot choosing to skip visits to Doaba.

While the BJP has already announced that its CM candidate will be a Dalit, even SAD president Sukhbir Badal has said that if the party wins, a Dalit leader will get the Deputy CM’s post. Of the total Dalit population in Doaba, 23 per cent are Ravidassias, and 12 per cent Valmikis and 2-3 per cent Mazhabi Sikhs. Deras such as Sachkhand Ballan, Nurmahal-based Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Dera Baba Jaure and Dera Kahnan Dhesian are also important nerve centres for Dalit voting choices. The Christian deras of Dalits, too, could influence the voting trends, feels Dalit writer Des Raj Kali. The 2015 sacrilege issue interestingly does not figure high on the mind of voters in Doaba, unlike in certain other parts of Punjab. Banga SAD MLA Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi feels even education and employment do not count for much as election issues. “Majority of those who can afford it have gone abroad for education and jobs,” he says. The Aam Aadmi Party, which won two seats in 2017, has not been able to build upon its base after Sukhpal Khaira quit. Though Jalandhar ex-DCP Balkar Singh joined the party recently, the ground appears weak. “Our party has already started working at the booth level and soon there will be mass joining of workers and leaders to add to the strength of the party,” claims Jai Krishan Rori, Garhshankar MLA.

Phagwara was the only seat from Doaba that the BJP won in 2017 when the party had an alliance with the SAD. But then MLA Som Parkash went to the Centre. Also, former Union MoS Vijay Sampla from Hoshiarpur heads the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. To add to faces, the party has roped in former leader of All India Sikh Students’ Federation Harinder Singh Kahlon as a prominent Sikh face but he is yet to show his presence publicly.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.