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Journalism of Courage
“Main nalke pattan nayi aaya, main nalke lavaan aaya haan. Ohda ta kal set pack up ho gaya te o vapas Mumbai chala gaya (I have not come to uproot handpumps, I have come to get them fitted. His movie set packed up yesterday and he has gone back to Mumbai),” says Sunil Jakhar about his BJP rival Sunny Deol as he goes around campaigning.
A day after Sunny Deol came to Gurdaspur for the first time in this election season and gave a fiery speech full of his movie dialogues, Jakhar has lost no opportunity to make fun of Deol. “I doubt he has ever voted in any election and has just used the ruse of voting because he wanted to get back to Mumbai,” he says. Going around Dinanagar assembly segment Tuesday, the state Congress president takes pot shots at his rival’s comment that he does not know politics. “Ik vaari jadon hath lagg gaye haar ke te sikh jaayega politics (When he goes through the grind of losing he will learn politics),” he says.
He also does not forget to highlight that Deol cannot speak fluent Punjabi and that he found it difficult to take oath in Punjabi at the office of the Returning Office and that he had to be corrected many times. “Politics nayi aundi, Punjabi nayi aundi te pher tenu aunda kee hai, (You do not know politics, you do not know Punjabi then what do you know),” he says to an amused crowd in Jhabkra village.
Traveling in a cavalcade of vehicles and scheduled to address seven gatherings across the Assembly segment and Gurdaspur town, Jakhar admits that the contest is not a cake walk. “I have never considered any election to be a cake walk. Sunny Deol has a name and has that stardom attached to him which is a plus point. However, I am very sure that once he is made to speak to the common voter and not just party cadres, he will prove to be a monumental disaster. The BJP is trying that he does not have any contact with anyone because he is not articulate. How long will they be able to do it, he will have to speak to people” he says.
Jakhar feels that the BJP has made the same mistake in Gurdaspur as it made in Amritsar in 2014 polls when it fielded Arun Jaitley assuming that a victory was certain. “I do not want to make tall claims, but I think he (Sunny) will end up the same way as Jaitley because of this overconfidence,” he says. Dinanagar has a sizeable presence of Hindu voters and is one of the places where BJP has a strong presence. However, the Congress president makes it a point to pay obeisance at a historic gurdwara before moving on to the next rally.
“BJP is a divided house in this district over the nomination of Sunny Deol,” he says when back in the car. According to Jakhar, there was a muted response to the announcement of Deol’s nomination. “The leaders wanted someone local to be in the fray. And I have no hesitation in saying that had Kavita Khanna, wife of Vinod Khanna been pitted against me it would have been a tougher battle because of the goodwill that she enjoys in her husband’s name,” he adds.
However, Congress too is facing disunity in the constituency with senior leader Partap Bajwa not turning up to campaign for Jakhar as he is miffed at not having been given the ticket. “I have not been able to speak to him. I do not know if he will campaign or when he will campaign but it does send a wrong message,” concedes Jakhar. Conscious of the fact that BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist agenda may find resonance in this border belt, Jakhar is careful to account for it in his next address in Dorangla village. “The body of a local youth who was killed in Pulwama blast could not be brought to Dinanagar directly because it was first taken to New Delhi for Modi to get photos clicked at a ceremony. Can you imagine the pain of a father awaiting his son’s dead body,” he asks the crowd.
At Kathiyali village, the Congress leader is praised by the local leader but is also gently reminded that in his next term the party workers would like to see more of him. “We will get you elected Jakhar Saab but please meet us more in the future as there is a feeling that workers were not able to meet you,” he says. Jakhar also says he is banking on the “star appeal” of Capt Amarinder. “Like he said — ‘asli fauji to main hu, ye filmy fauji hai’ (I am the real soldier, Sunny is a soldier only on the silver screen). He (CM Amarinder) has immense appeal in this border area. He went around when the recent tension took place with Pakistan and assured the villagers of all help. I am sure he will prove to be a better draw than Sunny Deol,” he says with a smile.
