 "AAP's rise as strong contender adds new dimesion in Punjab")
As assembly elections are drawing closer in Punjab, real issues have been engulfed in rhetoric and parties are drifting away from development talk. The emergence of Aam Admi Party as a strong contender has infused a breath of fresh air in the vapid election battle of Punjab that has remained dominated by Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress for past many years but there are no signs of any any party or leader weaving a magic except for anti-incumbency wave.
Has Punjab voter made up his mind in anybody’s favour? This is too early to predict. The alienation of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Cricketer turned entertainer turned politician from Bhartiya Janata Party has stimulated the political sentiments. Top sources in Aam Admi Party informed that Sidhu is most likely to join AAP as a star campaigner. Speculations about entry of Sidhu’s wife, Dr. Navjot Kaur Sidhu in AAP are also rife. There is a widespread feeling among AAP cadre that Navjot Kaur will contest the elections and Sidhu will lead the campaign as AAP constitution does not allow more than one ticket to one family.
If Sidhu is able to bring AAP in power, he will be offered the Chief Minister ship. According to AAP insiders, his wife would then vacate her seat in favour of Sidhu for a by-election.
Sidhu is likely to join this month and if actually forays into state politics, this time voters will have to choose mass leaders vs mass entertainers, tells a senior political scientists who does not wish to be quoted.
AAP leaders Sidhu (if he joins), Bhagwant Mann and Gurpreet Ghuggi have the power of pulling crowd but they are not politically as wise and experienced as their opponents Badals and Captain Amarinder.
Sidhu can be a game changer if he is able to divert congress votes in AAP's favour, believe the psephologists.
While SAD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and his brother-in-law and Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia make no bones in calling Arvind Kejriwal a team of ‘Ali Baba and Chalis Chor’ and Kejriwal has openly challenged them to arrest him in six months (before elections) or he will arrest them when he comes to power.
Captain Amarinder has been trying to play his card and has engaged Prashant Kishore as his campaign manager. Even Amarinder minces no words in highlighting corrupt practices of Badal family and failure of AAP government in Delhi.
A glance over the electoral trend in the last two assembly elections in the state indicates that the percent votes cast in the favour of SAD-BJP alliance dropped in 2012 elections over 2007 elections. 10 candidates in last elections won with a slender margin of 31-1,000 votes and 9 out of these ten seats were won by SAD-BJP. Badal’s nephew Manpreet Badal who launched a new outfit People’s Party of Punjab (recently merged with Congress) secured 5.17% of votes.
2012 assembly elections were fought on social engineering and non-panthic agenda but this time the political parties are devoid of any real issue till now. Creating alternative employment opportunities with a paradigm shift for agriculturists having no other skill than farming is a gargantuan task. But no party has suggested any remedy to this. The issue of drug addiction has been flared up in Punjab. A recent report tabled by the Union Minister for Social Justice Vijay Sampla in Rajya Sabha contains that Punjab ranks 12 among 29 states for survey on suicide because of drug abuse in year 2014. It says that out of total 3647 suicides due to drug abuse and alcoholism, 37.6 % were reported in Maharashtra followed by Tamilnadu and Kerela, told Surjit Kumar Jyani, Health Minister of Punjab.
Voters in different parts of Punjab told Business Standard that they wish to be guided by who talks of development. As elections are expected in early 2017, the political rhetoric must translate into development plank to save one of the most progressive state of India into deeper debt trap.
| Year | SAD+BJP=Total seats won | Vote Share (SAD+BJP) | Congress seats won | Vote Share | Independents seat won |
| 2012 | 56+12=68 | 34.75+7.13 | 47 | 40.9 | 3 |
| 2007 | 48+19=67 | 37.09+8.28 | 45 | 40.11 | 6 |
