NEW DELHI: Faced with mounting anti-incumbency, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP combine is bracing to pull emotional strings to retain power in the poll-bound Punjab. Armed with reports of various surveys, the BJP has asked the 89-year-old chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to seek “one last mandate” and exploit the goodwill among the Panthi Jat Sikh for himself even as there is rising “anger” among people against deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
“If Sukhbir Singh Badal leads the NDA election campaign, we are doomed, as his business interests virtually in all spheres have riled the people in the state cutting across caste and religious lines. We have briefed the chief minister with the findings of surveys on the ground, and asked him that only an emotional plank could help the NDA beat the challenge of AAP and the Congress,” a BJP leader said.
Incidentally, the BJP has told the senior Badal that even while he continues to command respect and goodwill amongst people, the reports suggest a contrasting picture for the junior Badal. There are 69 Assembly seats in the Malwa region, with the SAD contesting 63 and the BJP just three, said the BJP functionary, who added that the Congress and AAP have come up strongly in the region.
“The chief minister has a cult following among the Panthi Jat Sikh in the rural belt of Punjab. With him seeking a one last mandate for himself before he retires from politics, the people may back him and elect the NDA again,” the BJP functionary said.
While the BJP is contesting 23 Assembly seats, the SAD will field its nominees in 94. “Sukhbir is good at poll management and has a good network. He has to be in the background while the senior Badal leads,” added the BJP functionary.