External affairs add spice to Amritsar contest
IF there are a fistful of Lok Sabha constituencies in India where election campaigns overly emphasise external affairs, Amritsar leads them. This is more pronounced in the 2024 contest — four-cornered — than in the previous two parliamentary battles from Amritsar, which this columnist has observed.
Gastronomy is fundamental to the good life in Amritsar. The 2019 contest, among other things, enhanced the international culinary profile of the city, much to the delight of the Punjabi diaspora worldwide. Soon after that election, Hardeep Singh Puri, who contested unsuccessfully from this constituency, was appointed Minister of State with independent charge of Civil Aviation. He recast the in-flight menu of Air India — then a government undertaking — to include Amritsari kulcha. It turned out to be hugely popular on Air India’s long-haul flights, which served full meals.
Emirates, one of the most popular airlines in the world, noticed the development. Not to be left behind, this flag carrier of the UAE, posthaste got its flight kitchen conceptualisers to taste Amritsari kulcha. Emirates has been far more discriminating than Air India in its choice of food and does not hesitate to copy successful experiments by other airlines, especially in its business and first-class cabins. Finding approval after quick but rigorous vetting by the airline’s multinational chefs, this signature Amritsari dish was soon on the in-flight menu of the global airline headquartered in Dubai. Emirates also added Amritsari chhole to its breakfast menu. The core passenger revenue of Emirates is owed to flyers from the sub-continent, of which India is at the top. Punjabi and Malayali cuisines are potentially big draws for ethnic Indian passengers. Dishes like Amritsari kulcha have made the grade in this respect, but cuisine from Kerala, like appam or puttu, is yet to be on the dining menus of global airlines.
The jewel in the crown of such internationalisation of Amritsar’s foodie culture was when The Oval, among the world’s most highbrow sporting venues, served Amritsari kulcha in the press box at the 2019 ODI World Cup, jointly hosted by England and Wales. The ingenious move of serving this desi preparation during the June 9 India-Australia match proved so popular that on June 27, the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester served Amritsari chhole for breakfast during the India-West Indies match. Edgbaston, a cricket ground in Birmingham, also served Amritsari kulcha during the India-England match on June 30.
The foreign policy exceptionalism of candidates of all parties who are traditionally in the fray in Amritsar would surprise — even shock — practitioners of diplomacy in New Delhi, both in Chanakyapuri, the national capital’s diplomatic enclave, and the South Block, seat of the Ministry of External Affairs. This election is no different. All candidates in the current election are promising that India-Pakistan trade through the Attari-Wagah land route would be resumed. This is of critical importance for farmers, small and medium enterprises and exporters in Amritsar district. How they will do it is not clear because India’s policy is that terror and bilateral talks cannot go hand in hand. Without bilateral talks, the idea of reopening the land route for trade is a pipe dream. Of the four main candidates in the contest, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the BJP’s nominee, is more practical. Without waiting for the reopening of border trade, he is looking at Dubai as a re-export destination for goods from Amritsar that are in demand in Pakistan. For many decades, Dubai has been a transit point for Indian goods like sugar and processed rubber products like truck tyres to Pakistan.
It is perhaps a reflection of the globalisation of Amritsar’s aspirations that two of the four candidates put up by the political parties that matter in Punjab have been non-resident Indians (NRIs.) It was the same in the Lok Sabha election five years ago. MA Yusuff Ali and Mukesh Aghi are not in the electoral fray in Amritsar, but their names are often heard not only in the urban segment of this Lok Sabha constituency but also in the border village of Attari.
In last year’s Forbes list of billionaires, Ali was ranked 27th among the richest Indians. Anticipating another term of the Narendra Modi government, Ali is a regular caller on the BJP’s Sandhu. Ali’s Lulu Group, with an annual turnover of $8.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, has established a footprint in Punjab since 2019 in meat processing, agriculture value chains and real estate, including a mall and hypermarkets. Ali has put all his eggs in Sandhu’s basket in this election because he anticipates the BJP candidate to be a bridge between Amritsar and New Delhi, irrespective of whether Sandhu wins or loses. Aghi is the President of the Washington-based US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which is committed to promoting business relations between the two countries. Aghi, several NRIs from Amritsar and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries recently set up the Viksit Amritsar Initiative. It has raised $100 million for startups and human development-focused enterprises in Amritsar.
Elected to the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha from Ajnala, near Amritsar, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, the incumbent Minister for NRI Affairs and AAP’s Lok Sabha nominee from Amritsar, gave up his American citizenship to plunge into state politics. To be precise, therefore, he was a Person of Indian Origin for consular purposes, an enlargement on an ethnic Indian’s NRI status. Puri and Sandhu were NRIs in the technical sense, since they lived in the US as government servants, posted to New York and Washington. Because the deepest aspirations of the people of Amritsar have an international dimension, most of Dhaliwal’s speeches in the ongoing campaign are about NRI affairs. Punjab is the only state that has a legally constituted NRI Sabha registered under the Societies Act. Last year, Dhaliwal announced that the state government had decided to hold regular elections to this representative organisation of Punjabis living abroad and returnees to the state.
The incumbent MP, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, is the only major candidate who does not overly stress Amritsar’s external aspirations. But his social connect with people is obvious at weddings, childbirths and funerals. If re-elected, he may have to change course because globalisation is set to expand in this city.
