United by rage against the ruling party, Delhi’s Sikhs have cornered the Congress. Despite the last minute attempts on part of the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh—a Sikh himself—to mollify Sikh sentiments on Sarabjit Singh’s murder in Lahore, its political implications in Punjab found reverberations in Delhi. Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s sentencing brought further ire, with Sikhs demonstrating in the capital. Fuelled by the Internet, it spurred protests by Sikhs across the globe: a fact that has further emboldened Sikhs in the capital.
Meanwhile, cashing in on Sikh anger against the Congress is the BJP—SAD(B) ally in Punjab which already won the MCD elections last year.
Delhi goes to the polls in October this year. Sikh politicians foresee the alliance continuing in Delhi as a possibility.
SAD(B) Delhi unit chief Manjeet Singh says, “The BJP knows the strength that SAD(B) has gained in the DSGMC elections. So, they need to give us an appropriate share in the Vidhan Sabha seats.”
Manjeet does not seem to be bluffing when he says that the SAD(B) strength has increased. The seriousness with which it contested the DSGMC elections was a curtain raiser to a larger war between SAD(B) and the Congress. Four weeks before the elections were due, SAD(B) chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal set up camp in Delhi accompanied by key strategist Bikram Singh Majithia along with dozens of party MLAs. Sukhbir and his wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP, campaigned in Sikh-dominated areas of Delhi. After the victory, Sukhbir had told the media that SAD(B) was ready to expand beyond Punjab, and would contest the elections in Delhi, besides Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
On Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Manjeet says, “The writing on the wall is clear; the decision taken by the Congress has shown that it shielded the culprits of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Not only that, they were responsible for the 1984 carnage and the stalling of justice. Delhi’s 12 lakh Sikhs and over eight lakh Sikh voters understand this fact.” Currently the Congress holds Madipur and Rajouri Garden while Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Janakpuri are with the BJP. For now SAD(B) has no MLA in the Delhi Assembly.
SAD(B) sources told The Sunday Standard that the party would be fielding candidates in West Delhi, which has a large Sikh population. The Assembly seats that they may contest are in the Sikh-dominated Assembly segments of Madipur, Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Janakpuri, Moti Nagar and Pashchim Vihar. Currently, they don’t have any MLA in the Delhi Assembly.
SAD(B) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who defeated SAD(D) president Paramjit Singh Sarna in the DSGMC polls, said that in the coming weeks his party would raise many issues concerning Sikhs. “We have understood that Sarna made efforts to turn Sikhs in favour of the Congress. He had defied the ‘Akal Takht’—the highest seat of temporal authority of Khalsa—by not implementing the amended ‘Nanakshahi’ calendar.”
Sensing the Congress discomfiture, the BJP is stepping on the gas. Its leader Harsharan Singh Balli says that Sikhs are drifting away from the Congress after Sajjan Kumar walked free. “It is clear that the government used its wherewithal to save Sajjan Kumar. We will raise the issue in the state Assembly.” Congress leader Prahlad Singh Sawhney, an MLA from Chandni Chowk who is a Sikh, accuses SAD(B) of “trying to politicise the issue”. But former Delhi finance minister and BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi questions the absence of reports regarding 1984 riots. “The government is protecting the conspirators. All others accompanying Sajjan Kumar were convicted, only he was acquitted, even though the witnesses were the same,” said Mukhi.