Nepotism and dynasty politics: the words that the BJP has often used as an ammunition against its political opponents were hurled at it, by people from within the party, as it named Anita Som Parkash as its candidate from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat. Anita, who will make both her political and electoral debut, is the wife of BJP's Hoshiarpur MP and Union Minister Som Parkash who has been dropped by the party, apparently citing his poor health. The announcement by the BJP in its second list of three names for Punjab saw an angry reaction from supporters of former Union minister Vijay Sampla, who had won from Hoshiarpur in 2014. Sampla's supporters were quick in labelling the ticket to Anita as a “nepotism” and “dynasty politics” and questioned what happens to party's stance on the same issue. Sampla, who headed the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2021 to 2023 and remained a Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment from 2014 to 2019, claims to have a huge following in Hoshiarpur, an SC reserved constituency. Having worked as a daily wage labourer and a plumber before making it big in the political arena — he started off by being elected the sarpanch of his native village Sofi in Jalandhar — Sampla was a strong contender for the BJP ticket in 2019 too, but faced stiff competition from Som Parkash, a retired IAS officer. Som Parkash had contested from Hoshiarpur in 2009 but lost to Congress' Santosh Chaudhary by a razor-thin margin of 366 votes. While he had reacted strongly in 2019, this time he made his displeasure known by dropping 'Modi ka parivar' from his name on the social media profiles. In a cryptic post on X, he said, “Humne to khoon pasina baha diya, ab baarishen likhengi muqaddar zamin ka (I have shed blood and sweat, now the rains will write the destiny of the land)”. He also thanked his supporters, acknowledging that "ek rasta bandh hota hai, Bhagwan aur kai raaste khol deta hai (If one door is closed, God opens many others)”. “A path must have been decided for me too”. BJP's vice president for Hoshiarpur district unit Bharat Bhushan Verma, who is also in charge of Chabbewal Assembly segment, questioned the party decision. “We workers do not see any reason why cutting the party has denied ticket to Vijay Sampla, who remained active in the constituency for the past five years despite not being the MP. One can, however, question the sitting MP on mthe same. Why was Sampla, a dedicated party worker, overlooked for the ticket in favor of the sitting MP's wife? Is this not nepotism,” asked Verma. Party's district media in charge Kamal Verma, however, defended the decision, saying that the tickets were decided in Delhi, but added that the “basis for the decision is unknown”. Shivam Ohri, BJP youth president, Hoshiarpur, emphasized his allegiance to the party symbol, saying he would support whoever contests under it. Sampla's supporters continued to voice their grievances on social media platforms, questioning the rationale behind denying him the ticket. The rivalry between Sampla and Som Parkash is old. Sampla's supporters highlight his efforts to bring the Ravidassia community, an SC community in the Doaba region with both reserved Lok Sabha seats, into the BJP fold. With 37% Dalit votes in Doaba, Sampla's role as the first Dalit MP of BJP from Punjab earned him a ministerial position in 2014, despite being a first timer. BJP insiders said that the state and the central leadership now has to pacify Sampla's supporters, considering it is the first time since 1996 that the BJP is contesting the Lok Sabha polls on its own in Punjab. Hoshiarpur is one of the three seats which BJP had been fighting when it was in an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, with the Panthic party contesting the remaining 10 seats.
