Punjab’s electorate has so far largely ignored caste, community and regional faultlines, voting alternatively to elect a Congress or a Akali Dal-BJP government without being trapped by identities or binaries. But, with the Congress making Charanjit Singh Channi the chief minister, the state’s first Scheduled Caste at the helm, it has added a whole new electoral dimension this time, injecting a caste-based politics not witnessed in Punjab before.
The Congress will hope that by picking Channi, the state’s 32% SC population will see him as a symbol of empowerment among the community and propel it to power again. Not to be left behind, other parties have also played the caste card, raising the sweepstakes. The BJP has declared that it will make an SC as the CM if voted to power. The Akali Dal-BSP and the Aam Aadmi Party have promised to have an SC as the deputy CM.
But as the campaigning for a heraldic and folkloric election came to a close on Friday, views are divided on the Congress’s caste card. Most are either indifferent or simply dismissive, but a small section felt it could pay the Congress electoral dividend. Sipping his morning tea in fog-wrapped Kartarpur, a reserved constituency just outside Jalandhar city, furniture showroom owner Surinder Pal, 47, felt the Congress held the trump as it has made Charanjit Singh Channi the state’s first Scheduled Caste chief minister. “The party has made Channi the CM so that it gets SC votes and he has done a good job so far, he reduced the power rate within months, before that Punjab had the highest per unit cost in the country,” Pal said, shedding his initial skittishness.
About 25 kms away at Alhawalpur village in Adampur, another SC constituency in Jalandhar district, Hans Raj, 68, a retired government official, said the Congress would not only benefit from Channi’s SC identity but other sections would also vote for the panjaa, meaning the Congress, whose election symbol is the palm of a hand. “Even Khatris and Brahmins will vote for the Congress,” said Raj, adding that the real reason why the SCs would vote for the Congress was that Channi had given Rs 25 crore to the Dera Sachkhand Ballan, one of Punjab’s largest dera associated with Ravidasias, the CM’s community.
Kushaldeep Kumar, 28, a wiry youth who worked as a security guard in Doha, Qatar, before returning because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Channi’s gesture was enough to make all the dera’s followers to vote for the Congress. “The dera head does not need to give a call to support the Congress,” Kumar said. So for Pal, it was not only Channi’s identity as an SC that would benefit the Congress but also the slashing of the power rate. Similarly for Raj and Kumar, it was the CM’s largesse to the Dera Sachkhand Ballan that gave the party the edge. Simply put, Channi’s identity is layered in the dole and
the dera.
For a large number of voters caste did not matter. With Punjab slipping in the development and job indices, driving the youth to look for greener pastures abroad, Battle 2022 has acquired an evangelical noise. “People here don’t see caste or religion while voting. They want anyone who can work for the benefit of the public, whichever political party they belong to,” said Sukhvinder Singh, 46, a grizzled agricultural equipment workshop owner in Sham Chaurasi, an SC seat in Hoshiarpur district.
Ditto Gaurav Bassi, 31, an arthiya, or commission agent at a mandi in Chabbewal, another reserved constituency in Hoshiarpur. “I cannot say if Channi’s choice will benefit the Congress. Political leaders should work for the people, give jobs and bring development, their identity doesn’t matter,” the young voter said.
In dust-coated Gill, a reserved constituency in Ludhiana, unemployment, price rise and development are on the lips of almost all the working class people and small businessmen. “Don’t you see the condition of this road, who is responsible for this? All the politicians are the same,” bristled Manjeet Singh, 75, clothes shop owner, pointing to the cratered national highway.
As a car with a Congress flag passed by on the same highway, bellowing a party campaign song and kicking up plumes of dust, Charan Singh, 62, a retired power department official, summed up the mood. “Voting day happens to be my son’s wedding anniversary. I will vote for development and then celebrate the day with my family,” he said, looking forward to a day of hootenanny.
H Khogen Singh @ Amritsar/Gurdaspur/Jalandhar (Punjab)
