NEW DELHI: Undaunted by his electoral loss at the hands of the Maharaja of Patiala Captain Amarinder Singh from Amritsar in 2014, honorary Punjab da Puttar Arun Jaitley is all set to renew his love affair with the state. Well ahead of the Assembly polls, the BJP has decided to make him its lead campaigner. Jaitley has been informally in charge of the state even after his defeat.
The decision to field him by party chief Amit Shah has left the cadre puzzled, since the finance minister is not known as a grassroots politician. Nor does he enjoys the unconditional support of the RSS like other Union ministers. However, the FM claimed he knows each lane and bylane in Punjab, besides relishing its culinary delights.
A BJP core group, which met last Monday, decided to appoint Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha MP and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla as campaign coordinator. Meanwhile, the party high command has told Jaitley to address rallies and street corner meetings. He has also been asked to be the lead speaker at Vijay Yatra, which concludes in Amritsar on January 8.
After initial negotiations with BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the saffron party will contest 23 Assembly seats, including Amritsar of the total 117 seats. “Seat adjustments talks are over. The SAD-BJP alliance will stick to the 2012 seat-sharing formula,” said a senior BJP leader.
The party had won 11 of the 23 Assembly seats it contested in 2012, despite the anti-incumbency factor. This time the going is tough, admit Punjab leaders. However, the FM faces the prospects of contesting the state elections without even the help of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who after a political flip-flop, has positioned himself with the Congress.