In order to control the election results in Punjab, almost every political party is promoting the politics of defections and familyism. The issue is not to resolve the issues of Punjab, nor to do politics that favor Punjab, the issue is to control political power in Punjab, to rein in “Athre Punjab”.
Look at the situation of the by-elections in Punjab. Elections are being held in four seats, Gidderwaha and Barnala (Malwa), Dera Baba Nanak (Majha), Chabbewal (Doaba). Most of the independent candidates are angry with the political parties. Out of the 12 official candidates fielded by the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party on all four seats, 6 are defectors, 3 are wives of MPs, and their sons are contesting. The regional party Shiromani Akali Dal, which is a victim of the family, has fled the field in these by-elections. Does the Congress have MP Sukhjinder Singh without his wife Jatinder Kaur or with MP Without Amrita Warring, wife of Congress state president Raja Warring, or Aam Aadmi Party MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal without his son, the party has not found any common candidate or leader to contest the elections or the BJP has not liked any face from its own dedicated workers to contest the assembly elections. The BJP has put its support on party defectors in almost all the seats. A day before the nomination of the elections, the election is being fought by including Shiromani Akali Dal leader ‘Sohan Singh Thandal’ in the BJP from Chabbewal. Simranjit Singh Mann’s grandson Gobind Singh Sandhu is the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate from Barnala.
The Congress has its eyes set on the 2027 assembly elections. It is encouraged by winning 7 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. There is extreme factionalism in the party. But still, the Congress, which is in opposition to the government party, is trying to improve its performance. But the Congress high command, which claims to do clean politics, is relying on familyism to win elections and is forced to give a ticket to the wife of its state president Raja Warring, who was first a member of the assembly and then an MP. The same is the case with MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, whose wife got a ticket from Dera Baba Nanak. Is the high command not trusting the common workers? Is it afraid of its leaders defecting, who are choosing tickets from families themselves.
The Aam Aadmi Party is no longer a party of the common people. It seems to have become a special party. The art conflict in this party has increased to a great extent. The Delhi high command is not trusting the current Chief Minister. Candidates are selected from above. The cadre of the Aam Aadmi Party is in a state of despair. Still, the party wants to seize all four seats by using every means with government support. The way Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Chief Minister, seized the seat by using force during the Jalandhar West by-election, may not be able to create that kind of atmosphere in these 4 by-elections. But Bhagwant Singh Mann will definitely try to convert his defeat in the MP election into a victory to some extent, although there is a fear that the anti-Chief Ministerial lobby is trying to silence him so that he can be asked to resign from the post of Chief Minister. The Aam Aadmi Party has already given tickets to people who came from outside the party in the by-elections. By giving a ticket to Ishant Chabbewal, son of Raj Kumar Chabbewal MP Hoshiarpur, it has proved that it does not consider familyism wrong. To win the election, “outsiders are welcome, it is not wrong to support family members.”
The BJP has been inducting a lot of leaders into its party for a long time. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, current BJP president Sunil Jakhar and many former ministers have been included in the BJP at the cost of legislative assembly and they are being put forward in the elections. Why is the BJP, which opposes dynasticism, finally adopting double standards in Punjab? Why is it that during the MP elections, only Preneet Kaur, the wife of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, is seen to contest the election from the family of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh? Why is only Anita Som Prakash, the wife of MP Som Prakash from Hoshiarpur, getting the election. Why is “Akali Thandal” the candidate from Chabbewal instead of the party’s dedicated workers? Why is only Singh Dhillon, who was once considered the core of the Congress, the party’s priority from Barnala?
In fact, BJP wants to capture ‘Punjab’. It wants to destroy the thinking of the people of Punjab, who are militant. So that it can rule the entire country comfortably. In Punjab, its old ally Shiromani Akali Dal (B) is fulfilling this hope. Which has boycotted the by-elections in view of the situation that has arisen after its president Sukhbir Singh Badal was declared a salaryman. BJP is trying to take direct advantage of this. Remember that during the MP elections, Shiromani Akali Dal was at number two from Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak. So why are these winnable seats being left?
