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Majha results tilt power equations in Cong, SAD
Picture of contrast: Harsimrat isn’t celebrating, but Manpreet relaxed
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Lambi villages gave Badal Bahu an edge
SAD forms panel to study party’s poor poll performance
SAD may not enjoy clout in NDA govt
Clamour for Bajwa’s ouster gets louder
SAD leader Chandumajra trailed in seven of nine segments in Anandpur Sahib
Jaitley’s defeat was anticipated, Akalis to blame: Sidhu’s
wife
Congress played a spoiler, not us: AAP
Infighting in SAD, Cong led to Khalsa’s win
AAP no threat to Akali Dal, says Dhindsa SGPC delegation on Pakistan visit from today
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Majha results tilt power equations in Cong, SAD
Amritsar, May 17
The emphatic win in Amritsar has revived the political fortunes of Amarinder, who was ousted as the PPCC chief after successive defeats of the Congress in the 2007 and the 2012 Assembly elections
in the state. Besides, the fact that all the other top guns of the Congress, including PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa, senior leader Ambika Soni and CLP leader Sunil Jakhar lost from their respective Lok Sabha seats, has come as a big boost for Amarinder. The fact that Amarinder defeated a top BJP leader like Jaitley in the elections in which the BJP delivered its best performance and the Congress its worst-ever with a tally of mere 44 seats adds to the significance of his triumph from Amritsar seat. With this victory, Amarinder has also proved that he is not a "spent force" in politics. On the other hand, a humiliating defeat by BJP's Vinod Khanna in Gurdaspur has certainly hit the stature of Bajwa. The knives are already out and some Congress leaders from the anti-Bajwa camp are gunning for the PPCC chief, seeking his resignation in view of the drubbing the party has received in the Lok Sabha elections. However, it is unlikely that Bajwa would be directly blamed for the party's performance as the Congress has fared badly in the entire country. Now, the Assembly by-polls in Talwandi Sabo, Dhuri and Patiala constituencies will be a litmus test for him, particularly because all these seats fall in Malwa region from where Amarinder comes and has also got his support base. In the SAD too, the picture is almost similar when it comes to the Majha region. The political career of the ruling party stalwart Ranjit Singh Brahmpura has been resurrected with his victory from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Brahmpura had been in the political wilderness ever since he lost the Assembly elections in the 2012 polls. While Brahmpura is back in action, though not in Punjab politics, the image of powerful Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia has taken a beating in light of the defeat of Jaitley in the high-prestige battle at Amritsar. Majithia has been the topmost SAD leader of Majha and he has dominated the SAD politics here, particularly after senior leaders like Brahmpura, Sucha Singh Langah, Sewa Singh Sekhwan and Nirmal Singh Kahlon lost the last Assembly polls. Prior to the rise of Majithia on the political scene of Punjab, it was Brahmpura who was the tallest leader of the SAD in Majha region.
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Picture of contrast: Harsimrat isn’t celebrating, but Manpreet relaxed
Badal (Muktsar), May 17 While no rush was visible outside the house of the winning candidate, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, daughter-in-law of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, several cars were parked outside the house of the losing candidate, Manpreet Badal, who fought from the Cong-PPP-CPI alliance. It is quite unusual as normally a loser in a political battle suffers the defeat largely alone while people swarm the house of the winner. Harsimrat has not celebrated much as the Akalis are upset with the thin victory margin of 19,395 votes. She had won by over a lakh votes in 2009. She has not interacted with the media after the poll results were announced. There has been no victory procession. She didn’t even collect the winner’s certificate from the District Returning Officer, which was handed over to her lawyer last evening. No thanks-giving trip to voters has been planned. Outside the brick-lined grand villa of the Badals, a small group of ‘dholis’ stand motionless across the road. They had reached there to beat the drum but there were no Akali supporters to dance to the beat. Only a few official cars were parked there. Harsimrat flew to Delhi via Amritsar, it was learnt, after a visit to the Golden Temple. The mood in her camp was anything but upbeat even a day after the results were announced. “We are wondering what people want,” confided a close aide. “She brought development and she visited every village in the constituency at least thrice, still people were not happy. We are puzzled,” he said. Though a short analysis of the result was done last night in a meeting with some of the leaders, Akalis are wondering if people understood she was an MP in the opposition and could not bring projects? At Manpreet’s house, he is seen seated relaxed and happy in a garden chair surrounded by over 100 supporters. More kept coming in from various parts of the constituency to “congratulate” him on his moral victory. In a jovial mood, he cracks jokes and greets visitors. For a moment, one starts feeling that he is actually the winning candidate. “I have taken on the lioness in the lion’s own den,” he replied when asked how his mood was. “Despite all foul play against me, I have lost by a thin margin. They bought votes, fielded namesake candidates, took away the kite symbol of my party but still they could not deliver a decisive victory. In fact, it is a decisive mandate in the favour of the Cong-PPP-CPI alliance.” Manpreet revealed he had no time to rest, “I am hitting the road on Monday for a thanks-giving trip across the constituency to those who voted and also to those who did not.” His future plans are well-charted out. He aims to wrest power in the 2017 Assembly elections in the state through a grand alliance of like-minded parties. “Our alliance was not made by leaders. It was made by the people. They want us to have a grand alliance with the Congress, CPI and other parties and I aim to make it happen. Akalis do not play fair. A collective might is required,” he said. Does he feel bad at the defeat, especially when the state Congress leadership could not campaign for him, he replies, “Campaigning by Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa would certainly have made the final difference.”
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Lambi villages gave Badal Bahu an edge
Bathinda, May 17 Official data reveals that after drubbing in the panchayat elections last year in Ghudda, the ancestral village of the Badals, the Akalis managed to get a lead of 66 votes from the village. In Lambi village, the Akalis got 231 votes less than Manpreet. The Lambi Assembly constituency has sent Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal five times to the Vidhan Sabha. The cancer-hit villages of Jajjal and Malkana in Talwandi Sabo whose residents often blame the SAD-BJP government for their plight gave a lead of 228 and 689, respectively, to the Akalis. In this fierce battle, all eyes were on how the ruling Badals fared in key villages and Bathinda city, which the Akalis claim has witnessed an unprecedented development in the last seven years of their government. Harsimrat was the clear winner from Badal village as she got 1,234 votes against 620 bagged by Manpreet. AAP got 93 supporters from the village. Though the exact figures of other candidates are not available, Manpreet Badal’s namesake is said to have got negligible votes. Mann village, which saw a bloody clash during the panchayat elections last year and is said to be a Congress stronghold, sprang a surprise by giving a lead of 280 votes to
Harsimrat.
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SAD forms panel to study party’s poor poll performance
Chandigarh, May 17 The committee will comprise Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Tota Singh and Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal. It has been asked by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to prepare detailed reports on poll results. SAD general secretary Harcharan Bains said the core committee congratulated Narendra Modi on his impressive win. The SAD has managed to win four seats and retain its tally of the 2009 Lok Sabha election, but its vote share has fallen from 33.85 per cent in 2009 to 26.3 per cent. Compared to the 2012 Assembly election, the party's vote share has gone down sharply from 34.73 per cent to 26.3 per cent. This election has served as a referendum on the government's performance - a fact acknowledged in today's meeting. Almost all SAD contestants in the Lok Sabha election were present in the meeting. Sources said the core committee, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, also discussed threadbare the issues on which the voters, especially in the urban areas, have shown their resentment and rejected the party candidates. With Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) winning four seats and getting 24.4 per cent of the total votes, the core committee members also decided to take into account how AAP managed such a startling performance in its debut in Punjab.
Getting into a huddle
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SAD may not enjoy clout in NDA govt
Chandigarh, May 17 Moreover, the SAD has not performed the way it should have been keeping in view the Modi wave that swept major parts of the country. The SAD has barely managed to repeat its performance of 2009. By securing two seats, its ally, the BJP has done better than the last time. In the given situation, the SAD leadership will not be in a position to press for slots in the Modi cabinet. During the Vajpayee government, it had got two ministries. Now, the BJP has enough of its own MPs to accommodate in the cabinet. Besides, the humiliating defeat of BJP leader Arun Jaitley in Amritsar is also likely to act as an irritant in relations between the two parties. To settle political scores with BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, the SAD leadership had brought Jaitley to Amritsar by promising him a big win. However, when Jaitley confronted the ground realities in the election arena, he was reportedly taken aback. Though he pulled out all stops to be in the contest, his campaign failed to counter the charisma of Capt Amarinder Singh because there was so much anti-incumbency factor at play. Had the ruling combine taken the issues raised by Sidhu about Amritsar in the right spirit, Jaitley would have been saved from the defeat. Now because of his defeat, despite Modi wave in the country, his opponents in the BJP will be taking potshots at him. Though he is a member of the Rajya Sabha and will have no difficulty in getting an important ministry in the Modi Government,
defeat in Amritsar will weigh on his mind for a long time. It is expected that the BJP will become more assertive vis-à-vis the SAD and possibly dictate terms to it. The SAD desperately needs the BJP’s help at the national level to set Punjab’s deteriorating economic condition right. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been saying that once the BJP formed its government at the Centre, all problems of Punjab will be resolved.
Depending on none
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Clamour for Bajwa’s ouster gets louder
Chandigarh, May 17 With the party failing to capitalise on the huge anti- incumbency against the Akali-BJP Government and instead suffering a loss in its own vote share, the clamour for the resignation of Bajwa is only growing louder. After Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, MLA from Guruharsahai, raised the banner of revolt against Bajwa yesterday, as many as 12 other Congress MLAs, including former minister Surinder Single, have today demanded his resignation. These include Kewal Singh Dhillon, OP Soni, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Raj Kumar Verka, Ramajit Singh Sikki, Hardyal Kamboj, Harchand Kaur, Mohammad Sadiq, Rana Gurjit, Sukh Sarkaria, Amrik Singh Dhillon and Guriqbal Kaur. In a statement issued here, the MLAs said given the party’s poor show in the Lok Sabha poll, Bajwa had lost the
moral authority to remain party president. They also expressed their loyalty to Capt Amarinder Singh, maintaining that by defeating BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in Amritsar, Capt had once again proved to be a mass leader. Certain leaders, however, have called for restraint in the matter. Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said: “This is the time to introspect. We need to work together instead of looking for a scapegoat.” Ferozepur MLA Parminder Pinki said: “We should organise a ‘chintan shivar’ instead of baying for Bajwa’s blood.” The Bajwa camp, however, says the MLAs who are seeking his resignation are the ones who owe their loyalties to Bajwa’s bête noire and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Though Bajwa remained unavailable, his close aides said there was no dissent within the party and that Bajwa had managed to create a wave against the ruling alliance by organising state-level dharnas on the drug issue before the election. The party’s poor show was because the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had taken all votes that turned against the ruling alliance, maintained his associates. Sources say with Capt Amarinder Singh emboldened with his massive victory, his camp’s strategy within the party would be to unsettle an already decimated Bajwa. Though an immediate change in the state leadership is not expected, Bajwa as party president will have to re-strategise his moves to ensure that Congress under his leadership remains a force in the state. It has now become imperative for his political
survival.
Facing uncertainty
— Inputs by Sanjeev Bariana
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SAD leader Chandumajra trailed in seven of nine segments in Anandpur Sahib
Ropar, May 17 The only assembly segment where SAD got the lead was Garhshankar, where Cheema polled 38,863 votes against the 36,047 votes polled in favour of Bittu. This time Congress candidate Ambika Soni got the highest votes in three segments. She, however, slid to third place in two assembly segments of Kharar and Mohali even as both the assembly segments are represented by Congress Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Himmat Singh Shergill, who is a novice in politics, won in the assembly segments of Mohali (50,987), Chamkaur Sahib (47,017) and Nawanshahr (35,635) and Banga (38,663). Chandumajra got 50,864 votes in Anandpur Sahib in comparison to Congress candidate Soni’s 40,907. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got 19,651 votes. At Kharar, AAP performed much better than the Congress and got 45,098 votes. The Congress got 39,183 votes and Chandumajra polled 50,174 votes. Soni got more votes than her rivals in Ropar, Balachaur and Garhshankar. In Ropar, Soni polled 39,373 votes against the 38,576 votes polled in favour of the SAD candidate. AAP candidate remained on third spot with 29,226 votes. Similarly, in Balachaur, the Congress polled 35,045 votes, the SAD and AAP 34,351 and 14,064 votes, respectively. In Garhshankar, the Congress and the SAD got 35,749 and 34549 votes respectively. AAP with 25,064 votes remained third. In three of the four assembly segments where AAP led, SAD candidate Chandumajra slid to the third spot. In Chamkaur Sahib, the Congress and the SAD got 39,676 and 38,557 votes, respectively, while the AAP polled 47,017 votes. Similarly in Nawanshahr, the Congress got 30,025 votes and the SAD polled 29,724 votes. In Banga, the Congress polled 28,138 votes and the SAD got 26,838. In Mohali, where AAP polled the maximum votes, the Congress slipped to the third spot with 35,564 votes and the SAD got 43,714 votes.
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Jaitley’s defeat was anticipated, Akalis to blame: Sidhu’s
wife
Amritsar, May 17 Dr Sidhu said, “There was a strong anti-incumbency against the
SAD-BJP government at the ground level, but our leaders chose to turn a blind eye to it. The people were unhappy with the state of affairs.” She alleged that Cabinet Ministers Bikram Singh Majithia and Anil Joshi misled a senior leader like Jaitley to contest from Amritsar by promising him a victory margin of 1.5 lakh votes. “How did they expect the people to vote for them when there are no jobs while the police excesses are on the rise and only those with political connections could get their ration cards made? The people clearly wanted to teach them a lesson,” she said. Dr
Sidhu, who is also the Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Amritsar East MLA, said they had worked hard during the poll campaign for
Jaitley, but still the people rejected them. She said the ruling alliance leaders were not ready to identify the ground realities and were repeating the same mistakes. On Jaitley’s defeat by over 32,000 votes from her assembly segment, she said it was the SAD-ruled MC wards which had a major contribution in it. “We lost by over 20,000 votes in the municipal wards with SAD
councillors,” she said. The CPS said she was following the coalition dharma, equally spending grants on the BJP and the SAD wards, but it was the SAD
councillors, who had been boycotting her and not considering her as their MLA. On the rumours about her resignation, she wondered, “Why should I resign?” Apparently referring to Majithia and Joshi, she said those who brought Jaitley to Amritsar should resign from their posts. Dr Sidhu said the ruling
SAD-BJP alliance would have lost all 13 seats had the AAP factor not been there in the Lok Sabha elections. “If you add the votes polled by the Congress and the AAP in each constituency the ruling alliance is not winning any of the seats as the anti-government vote was much more,” she added.
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Congress played a spoiler, not us: AAP
Chandigarh, May
17 "The Aam Aadmi Party won more seats than the Congress in the state. How can it be described as a spoiler when it has performed better than the parties that are over 100 years old," said
Sidhu. He said people of the country had lost faith in parties such as the Congress and they were looking for a credible alternative. "In Punjab, the electorate trusted the candidates put up by the AAP and voted for them in a big way. That is why the AAP won the Sangrur and Faridkot seats with a record margin of votes in the Lok Sabha elections," he said. "Let me make it clear to the leadership of the Congress and also to the SAD that we would not vanish in the thin air. We are here to stay and do serious politics. The leaders who, before the Lok Sabha elections, were saying that we are just a bubble and would burst soon, must have realised by now that AAP is not a bubble but a political tsunami," said
Sidhu.
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Infighting in SAD, Cong led to Khalsa’s win
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 17 The SAD was hit hard due to infighting in Bassi Pathana and Amarkot assembly constituencies represented by Nirmal Singh and Iqbal Singh Jhundan, respectively. The AAP candidate won by a margin of over 12,000 and 11,000 votes in Bassi Pathana and Amarkot, respectively. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at a rally in Bassi Pathana had warned the workers against infighting. But the Chandumajra group and ex-MLA Didar Bhatti’s group were seen campaigning separately.
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A day after the poll debacle of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, former MP Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu today said the result was anticipated as the people were angry with the state government.
Dr Sidhu said, “There was a strong anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP government at the ground level, but our leaders chose to turn a blind eye to it. The people were unhappy with the state of affairs.” She alleged that Cabinet Ministers Bikram Singh Majithia and Anil Joshi misled a senior leader like Jaitley to contest from Amritsar by promising him a victory margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
In the 2009 General Election, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Daljeet Singh Cheema was defeated by Congress
candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu in eight assembly segments.