The Sidhu pitch

There is no easier way to collect a crowd in Punjab than to put Navjot Singh Sidhu on the guest-list. Not that Sidhu has grown into his political role like the Sialkot willow moulds itself into a cricket bat that8217;s definitely not a Sidhuism. He has been a late entrant and probably wouldn8217;t have taken the plunge if Atal Bihari Vajpayee hadn8217;t convinced him to join politics. Like Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra, Sidhu must have been swayed by the idea of becoming a part of a winning combination. But, unlike his celebrity contemporaries, he is not a fading star. His glamour quotient has only just begun paying dividends.

What Amritsar discovered in 2004 was Sidhu8217;s intrinsic Punjabiyat. He was no longer just a cult figure to whom cricket commentary meant exploring weirdly witty metaphors. It went into raptures as he recited Punjabi couplets in his own inimitable style. He was seeking immediate recognition as a son of the soil, as one whose command of the local tongue was flawless. He was falling back on the post-Lalu political idiom 8212; buffoonery 8212; to reach people8217;s hearts. But Sidhu has not matured into a man married to politics. At least not yet. He has retained his impulsive nature, is a shade impetuous and can, sometimes, be very unpredictable. His absence from Amritsar may never be as derisively discussed as that of Govinda8217;s from Mumbai North, but he does not yet understand the importance of grassroots contact-building.

For a long time, Punjab has not produced a single politician who has had an impact on the national stage. After Giani Zail Singh, only mediocre power-players like Surjeet Singh Barnala, S.S. Dhindsa and Buta Singh have surfaced. Manmohan Singh was prime minister first, before emerging as a favoured politician from that state. If Sidhu takes his politics seriously, he can fill this vacuum. He has an instinctive idea that people are probably seeking a release from the stranglehold that the Patiala royal family, the Badals and the Brars, have on the state.

He has another advantage. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance was supposed to be a non-starter. The BJP, defined as a party of the urban Hindu, has been uncomfortable about SAD8217;s separatist past. Yet the alliance, once labelled opportunistic, has worked. The BJP played the role of an inoffensive junior partner and is waiting for a chance to break new ground. Being a Sikh, he breaks the stereotype about the Jat Sikh voting unquestioningly for the Akalis and city-bred Hindus opting for the BJP.

A Sidhu concentrating on his political career can be of great use to the BJP. The moot question is whether Sidhu himself will grasp the contours of his own potential and work towards achieving it.