Amitabh Shukla |
in Oped
Navjot Singh
Sidhu's exit may not hurt the BJP, but in case he joins the AAP, it will be a
challenge for him to get used to the dictatorial-style of Arvind Kejriwal
The exit of
Navjot Singh Sidhu from the BJP might not have much impact on the Punjab unit of
the party, except on its psychological bearings to some extent, in the run-up
to the Assembly poll early next year. Despite loud claims of the new patrons of
Sidhu, he was practically out of politics for a pretty long time; he hardly
campaigned for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and had even boycotted
the campaign for his political ‘guru', Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in
Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. To add to his political see-saw, now, he has ditched
the man he often called his ‘role model' — Prime Minister Narendra Modi —
despite being given a Rajya Sabha nomination, barely three months ago.
It is a
different matter altogether that had Sidhu contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha
seat, his defeat margin could have been much higher than that of Jaitley and he
would have left politics. When I was in Amritsar, covering the campaign for the
2014 Lok Sabha poll, I felt that there was a discernible undercurrent against
Sidhu and his two terms as an MP, and it proved to be costly for Jaitley. What
made matters worse was an intransigent approach of Sidhu who refused to be seen
on the same platform with Jaitley throughout the campaign, despite being the
sitting MP from the place. No one in the BJP ever asked Sherry, as Sidhu is
popularly known, if it was prudent and morally correct to ditch a ‘guru’ for
one's ego and nothing else?
In fact,
indications of growing unpopularity of the sitting MP became visible in the
last few years. Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu won from Amritsar East
constituency in 2012 Assembly poll, a part of Sidhu's constituency then,
narrowly only because of a rebel Congress candidate who was in the second
position. Sidhu himself won the 2009 Lok Sabha poll by merely 7,000 votes, a
far cry from the voter percentage of over 55 he got in the 2004 poll and over
50 in the 2007 by-election.
His victory
margin in the three elections he fought from the holy city, including a
by-election, consistently came down. The biggest fault for the BJP was that it
could not see the writing on the wall as far as the role of Sidhu was concerned
and continued to trust the former Indian cricketer despite his direct and
indirect role in the defeat of Jaitley. It was fairly clear then that Sidhu
could not be trusted for a bigger role in the party.
The reasons for
Sidhu's disenchantment is not far to seek. He could not get big ticket projects
for his constituency, he could not build a bridge with the cadres of the BJP as
he never felt he was a part of them and was continuously in bickering mode with
the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal which the BJP had allied with. Also, perhaps he
nursed the idea of heading the SAD-BJP coalition one day which was not
practical as SAD was the bigger part of the alliance.
Sidhu's desire
that the BJP should severe its ties with the SAD lacked political imagination
from the very beginning. Given the socio-religious dimensions of Punjab and it
being a Sikh-dominated State, the BJP was not in a position to think about it.
Also, the BJP is present largely in the cities and urban pockets of the State
and cannot do without the massive rural and Jat peasantry support of the Akali
Dal. Moreover, given the tumultuous past of the State and militancy, leaders
like Parkash Singh Badal, may have other limitations and inadequacy, but have
continuously worked for communal amity and a SAD-BJP alliance was crucial in
this scheme of things.
In fact, his
wife and MLA from Amritsar, Navjot Kaur Sidhu too simply ranted the political
views of her husband. She was at loggerheads with almost everyone in Punjab BJP
and the Akali Dal and was a “rebel without cause” as a BJP leader put it.
Even though
Sidhu's exit may not hurt the BJP to that extent as he was, in any case, a
non-playing batsman, it would definitely bolster the chances of Aam Aadmi Party
as and when he decides to join it. Playing the role of non-conformist
throughout his political career would help him in his new avatar and give him
fresh political life. However, he still will have to conform to the norms of
the AAP and the one-man dictatorship that has emerged in the party of late. It
will of course be a challenge to the new convert to AAP ideology given his past
record. (July 21, 2016)
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