As Sidhu meets Majithia, all eyes on Amritsar scorecard

This election in Punjab, one of the most keenly watched battles will play out in Amritsar East, the constituency where sitting MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu of the Congress will take on Bikram Singh Majithia of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

On Wednesday, Akali president Sukhbir Badal had set the tone for the high-profile contest, saying, “Navjot Sidhu’s arrogance will be his undoing. He has been harping on about his support among the masses. Now his support will be tested with ‘Majha da sher’ [Majithia] taking him on in his home constituency.”

With almost a month to go for the February 20 elections, the odds are evenly stacked between the two candidates in what’s largely an urban constituency with a mix of voters from all regions and castes.

A young constituency, Amritsar East came into existence only in 2012. In the election held that year, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was elected on a BJP ticket by a relatively narrow margin of around 7,000 votes. She defeated Congress rebel and Independent candidate Simarpreet Kaur Bhatia. Sidhu later got Bhatia and her family to join the BJP. But when he crossed over to the Congress, he took them along and now, Kaur’s father-in-law Ajit Singh Bhatia is a Congress councillor from Ward number 30 in Amritsar East.

In 2017, Sidhu had a cakewalk, defeating Rajesh Honey of the BJP by a margin of over 40,000 votes.

For the Akalis, the election will mark a debut of sorts. The party has never contested from Amritsar East, with the constituency always part of the BJP’s share when the two parties were in alliance.

Majithia and the Akalis have remained active in Amritsar East only to oppose the Sidhu family on various occasions, even while he was in the BJP.

The Akalis have only three councillors in Amritsar East as opposed to 15 of the Congress. So the Akalis will have to work almost from scratch to build the campaign for Majithia.

Yet, it’s precisely what may play to the party’s strength — the Akalis are known for their election management.

“Our only aim is to defeat Navjot Singh Sidhu,” said a SAD leader, suggesting that the party will keep all its options open while managing Majithia’s campaign.

To begin with, instead of looking back at the 2017 Assembly results, when Sidhu had a walkover, the party would want to start from the 2019 parliamentary results, when Congress candidate and sitting Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla won by a margin of only 10,785 votes over Union minister Hardeep Puri.

The party would also hope to exploit the factionalism within the Congress. It is an open secret that Sidhu does not enjoy good relations with at least three Congress MLAs whose constituencies abut Amritsar East.

Also, with the Sidhu family representing the seat for 10 years, anti-incumbency could be a factor given that the seat, which already had basic amenities, hasn’t seen any big change under Sidhu. He had promised an overbridge over the Jaura railway crossing to solve long-standing traffic woes, but the bridge is yet to be completed. Another such overbridge at the Vallah crossing is also stuck with the files pending with the Army and Forest departments, say sources.

Yet, for Sidhu, Majithia’s candidature may just be what the doctor ordered. A Sidhu vs Majithia fight may shift the agenda away from some of the dissatisfactions against him in the constituency. Sidhu will hope to get the credit for the NDPS case against Majithia, a campaign point he will hope to use in the rest of the state. Also, Sidhu may pitch himself as the local candidate as opposed to ‘outsider’ Majithia, who is here only to defeat Sidhu.

While the battle for Amritsar East is turning into a clash of personalities, there are at least two other factors that might come into play: the BJP and the AAP.

So far, the BJP has not announced its candidate and the Akalis would prefer a low-profile BJP candidate against Sidhu to sway the anti-Congress votes in Majithia’s favour.

The AAP has fielded Jeevanjot Kaur, hoping she will get the votes of those voting for a change from the established parties.