Eight months after he quit as the BJP’s Punjab president, veteran politician Sunil Jakhar, 71, continues to “fulfill responsibilities” of the post, with the party “not accepting” his resignation. Leading the party’s campaigning for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll, Jakhar, in an interview with The Indian Express, talks about BJP’s prospects in Ludhiana, what it means for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and if he will continue with the BJP once his resignation is accepted. Excerpts:
I differ on this. Kejriwal could have easily asked any of his seven Rajya Sabha members from Punjab to resign for him, either by arm-twisting or of their own will. Except for two of them, others would have easily agreed… He didn’t need them to contest for this purpose. They have no guts to refuse… So Arora’s candidature is not for this purpose. It is a matter of common knowledge in Punjab that 80% of these Rajya Sabha nominees paid heavy amounts to the AAP to get these seats. People who had nothing to contribute to Punjab have been sent to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP.
I would not like to name them publicly but people of Punjab know well.
Because Punjab is the AAP’s last stand. If they lose from Ludhiana, this will be the beginning of their end in 2027 (Assembly polls). That means they will cease to exist as a political party in a very short span of time after the Delhi Assembly poll debacle… So they will put in every effort, hook or crook, to win Ludhiana. That’s why the entire Delhi leadership is sitting in Ludhiana… If the AAP loses, they will be wiped off the national scene. They came out of nowhere, and they will disappear the same way. They are not going to find their footing again in Delhi and will become irrelevant if Punjab is also lost.
The BJP is getting massive support in urban Ludhiana… The only disadvantage I think we had is that Jiwan Gupta’s name as candidate was announced a bit late. But the kind of support we saw at the roadshow (on Monday) has reassured us that the people of Punjab want to see a change because they are really fed up with the AAP.
Our endeavour is to change this perception that the BJP enjoys support only in urban areas. We are a pan-India party. In the coming months, the BJP will enforce this idea that we are a party covering every geographical and social segment of Punjab.
This fight is between the BJP and AAP. People are waiting to bring in the BJP due to the kind of lawlessness prevailing under the AAP government. Since Ludhiana is dominated by the business community, they have been most affected due to this lawlessness. They have been getting ransom and extortion calls from gangsters. People are being shot dead in broad daylight.
If the BJP can sort out law and order issues in Uttar Pradesh, then Punjab will be child’s play. People in Punjab have already tried other parties. They are all involved with gangsters, goons, drug peddlers, and land mafia. Yes, a bypoll is largely considered a cakewalk for the ruling party, but that’s not the case in Punjab as people are fed up with the AAP’s corruption and lawlessness. In November last year, the AAP had even lost the Assembly bypoll from Barnala, their bastion.
More than half of the Punjab Congress is itself trying to defeat their candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu… Whether it’s Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa or their state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, they all want Ashu to lose. They are not even showing their faces in Ludhiana West… Ashu is not even on talking terms with them. Once Ashu loses this bypoll, the Punjab Congress will be totally disintegrated.
The SAD is Punjab’s safety valve against radical elements. It absorbs the views, sentiments and aspirations of the panth and prevents panthic youths from falling into the hands of the (Pakistan intelligence agency) ISI or other such violent elements. The SAD is the only panthic party that has the sanction of the Akal Takht (the highest seat of Sikh authority). If the SAD continues to remain disintegrated, radicalism in Punjab will only rise.
Alliance talks can begin only when the SAD puts its act together. Since 2017, when they lost the Punjab Assembly polls, they have not learnt their lesson. We need a strong, moderate Akali Dal, like before, to initiate any alliance negotiations.
I resigned as the Punjab party president eight months ago but my resignation has not been accepted. So during this period, you can call me the party’s ‘interim president’ for Punjab till we have a new appointment. But let me clarify, I only resigned from a post, not from the BJP. I had my own reasons to step down as the Punjab president. I am very much a part of the BJP and will continue to be so.
