5 reasons why win crucial for Akalis

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has entered the Dhuri by-election arena with all guns blazing as a victory at this juncture would mean a lot for the party.

The SAD has 58 MLAs in the 117-member Assembly while its alliance partner BJP has 12. The Dhuri victory would mean the SAD would have a majority on its own in the House and it would no longer be dependent for support on the saffron party.

Also, it would be the first time in the last eight years that the SAD would enjoy a clear majority in the Assembly. The win, if it is achieved, would enhance the political clout of the SAD vis-à-vis the BJP.

When the SAD and the BJP had come to power for the second consecutive term in March 2012, the SAD was three short of a majority on its own. The party first poached Congress MLA from Moga Joginder Pal Jain and got him re-elected on the SAD ticket.

The next it was Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, who resigned from the Congress as well as the Assembly and got re-elected on the SAD ticket.

The bypoll in Dhuri was necessitated following the resignation of Congress MLA Arvind Khanna.

The SAD has fielded Gobind Singh Longowal while the Congress has shown faith in Simar Partap Singh Barnala, grandson of former Akali Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala and son of former MLA Gaganjeet Singh Barnala.

Surjit Barnala along with Akali veterans Parkash Singh Badal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra at one point of time used to be known as the “powerful troika” of the SAD. After an association spanning several decades, the Barnalas parted ways with the SAD.

Akali Dal president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal himself has been monitoring the campaign in the constituency, divided by the party into 15 zones.

Sources said Sukhbir had made it clear to all Akali leaders that their performance in villages assigned to them would be taken into account while making appointments in the party in the future as well as deciding candidates for the next Assembly elections.

As the SAD could not perform that well in the Lok Sabha elections, the Dhuri win could help the party send a message to its rivals that it still held sway among the voters.

On the other hand, the Congress appears to be a divided house yet again. Its leadership seems to be engaged in settling personal scores and, thus, showing the party in poor light.