At 3, BJP equals its worst in 15 years

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

Winning a mere three seats of the 23 it contested, the BJP has equalled its worst electoral performance of 2002 in the Punjab Assembly elections. BJP insiders allege they were let down by bigger alliance partner SAD, in whom the saffron party showed faith and didn’t execute a strategy of its own as in Hindi heartland states of UP and Uttarakhand.

Among the BJP winners, Arun Narang defeated Congress heavyweight Sunil Jakhar in Abohar by 3,279 votes. Jakhar polled 51,812 votes against 55,091 by Narang. Som Parkash from Phagwara humbled Joginder Singh Mann (Congress) by 2,009 votes. Parkash polled 45,479 votes against 43,470 by Mann.

In Sujanpur, Dinesh Singh Babbu (48,910 votes) defeated Amit Mantu (Congress) by 18,701 votes. Congress rebel Naresh Puri, contesting as an Independent, bagged 28,675 votes against 30,209 by official nominee Mantu.

The big defeats against the party’s expectations included that of national secretary Tarun Chugh (Amritsar-Central), Anil Joshi (Amritsar-North), Ashwani Kumar Sharma (Pathankot), Manoranjan Kalia (Jalandhar-Central), Tikshan Sud (Hoshiarpur), Surjit Kumar Jyani (Fazilka) and Sukhpal Singh Nannu (Ferozepur).

Barring two flying visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as many by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and a visit each by MP Smriti Irani and Delhi BJP president Manoj Tewari (Bhojpuri actor), hardly any BJP star campaigner visited Punjab.

The BJP even failed to convince the SAD for swapping three seats--Barnala, Mansa and Batala--that it was confident of winning. The party was swilling to give up its Rajpura constituency, which was contested unsuccessfully by Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla's aide Harjit Grewal (he was eying Barnala).

Speaking to The Tribune, Sampla said: "We failed to convince people about the hard work we put in towards building infrastructure and developing other facilities. Accepting humbly the mandate of the public, our party will very soon organise a discussion to analyse the reasons for the debacle."