Mass support for jailed influencer Bhana Sidhu: What it means to Punjab govt, Opp parties

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police on Monday registered one more case against Sidhu, taking the number of cases against him to four.

Who is Bhana Sidhu and why is he in jail?

With more than one million followers each on Facebook and Instagram, Sidhu has been using his social media clout to “play a Robin Hood”. He would purportedly make video calls to travel agents who had allegedly duped people of their money on the pretext of sending them abroad and would ask them to return their money. Dejected by the police and the administration, victims would see a ray of hope in Sidhu. According to information, some of the agents have returned the money to a few people fearing negative publicity on social media.

Moreover, his typical Malawi Punjabi dialect helps him connect with rural youth easily. He was also active during the farmers’ protest.

A close aide of another social media influencer and politician Lakha Sidhana, Sidhu has always been a critic of politicians, especially of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). He, however, gradually turned his gun towards incumbent Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government. His supporters alleged that Sidhu was booked in one after another case due to his stance on the Mann government.

Sidhu was last seen with Bhagwant Mann after the latter’s government announced to meet all demands of the action committee protesting the plan to set up industry on land near Mattewara forest on the banks of the Satluj in Ludhiana. Sidhu had met the CM along with Sidhana at the meeting where the agreement was reached.

Support

Sidhana has announced to contest the coming Lok Sabha elections from the Bathinda parliamentary seat. Sidhu has, too, been receiving support from many quarters. Slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s mother Charan Kaur posted in support of Sidhu. A whistleblower against drug peddlers, Palwinder Singh Jhota also campaigned to make the gathering at Kot Dhunna village successful. Some farmer unions are also supporting Sidhu. SAD Amritsar unit president and Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Mann, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and SAD(United) leader and former minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa also addressed the gathering alongside several media influencers.

Anger against govt

The demands of the gathering were not only limited to the release of Sidhu, whose village Kot Dhunna falls under the Sangrur parliamentary constituency which AAP leaders describe as their “political Rajdhani (capital)”. The Sangrur parliamentary constituency, a stronghold of Bhagwant Mann, is known for throwing surprises. Here, Simranjit Singh Mann won the 2022 by-election after Mann vacated the seat to become the chief minister.

Speaking at the gathering in Kot Dhunna, speakers came down heavily on Bhagwant Mann and his government on issues like migration from Punjab to abroad and immigration to Punjab from other states, drugs, mining, detainees at Dibrugarh. Sikh prisoner Jagtar Singh Hawara’s foster father Gurcharan Singh was also present on the stage where different speakers raised the issues of Sikh prisoners and the murder of Moosewala and actor-turned-politician Deep Sidhu.

What it means to Oppn

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira appealed to the people from the stage — “vote for anyone except AAP”. Both opposition parties — the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) — were largely absent from the gathering. The Congress is struggling to unite its leaders in the state, and the SAD (Badal) is still going through the so-called reformation. The gathering vent their anger against the state government, which the opposition parties can use to their advantage. However, with Sidhana being the main organiser of the event, it would be a challenge for the opposition to direct this anger in their favour.