Sikh candidate, a first choice for political parties

AMRITSAR : The bugle for the Lok Sabha elections has been sounded and all the political parties have started fielding their winning candidates. Amidst this, there is a lot of speculation and maneuvering regarding Punjab's most crucial Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.

Currently, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal to contest the Lok Sabha elections while on the other hand, Congress has not yet managed to fit its equation, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) are entangled in the cobwebs of forming an alliance again.

But one thing is common among them that they are all focusing on Sikh candidates, except for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that in the recent past announced Anil Joshi, a defector from the BJP, as the 'halqa in charge' of the Amritsar parliamentary constituency. Historically, the 'halqa in charge' often becomes the party's candidate for SAD.

From 1952 to 1999, Hindu candidates had the upper hand in the Lok Sabha elections. Out of a total of 14 elections, including by-elections, Hindu candidates won 9 times, while Sikh candidates won 5 times. However, the trend changed significantly after 1999. The parties preferred to field Sikh candidates and in the five Lok Sabha elections, including by-elections, held since then, Sikh candidates have won every time.

Similarly, barring Captain Amarinder Singh, then in Congress, none of the outsider won the seat from Amritsar even the top guns including Arun Jaitely and Hardeep Singh Puri.

For the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded its Sikh cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, while the BJP has sent an outsider considered Sikh face, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, former Indian ambassador, to make inroads in the holy city. Congress is also likely to field a Sikh candidate. However, if an alliance between the SAD and BJP is formed, then Anil Joshi could be left ref faced if the BJP insists on fielding its Sikh candidate, Taranjit.

Sikh intellectual Dr. Gururattan Singh believes that when one party starts talking about community-specific candidates, others feel compelled to do the same to stay competitive, even though there is no real difference between the two communities in Punjab. He wondered why the political parties conduct community-specific surveys before allotting seats if there is no such difference.

Political analyst Naresh Johar said that there is a communal difference in Punjab, whether anyone admits it or not. He pointed out that in most cases, allotting party tickets to Sikh candidates, especially post-1999, is a glaring example of this existing difference, especially given the demographic situation of the Amritsar parliamentary constituency, which includes as many as five rural assembly constituencies , largely in favour of Sikh candidates.