Ramesh Chander – retired diplomat
(Samaj Weekly)- Jalandhar Parliamentary Constituency is currently in news because of the forthcoming bye-election due to sudden demise of the incumbent MP, Chaudhary Santokh Singh during the just concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Political parties are fully engaged in picking up their prospective candidates for the prestigious constituency though the remaining term of the seat would only be for less than a year before the regular elections of the Lok Sabha due to be held in April/May, 2024. Being a Jalandharite, I thought of digging some information on the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, a high voltage political arena since 1952, the first general elections after independence under the new constitution.
Even before partition of the country, Jalandhar was an important centre of political and educational importance after Lahore. Due to the fact that most of the vernacular press (media) was located in Jalandhar and Jalandhar was a hub of excellent educational facilities, it retained its importance as the de-fecto capital of Punjab over- shadowing Chandigarh. Jalandhar gave towering politicians and administrators as CMs of Punjab like Darbara Singh, Comrade Ram Kishan, Beant Singh besides the national leaders like Swaran Singh who remained a Minister in the Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi’s cabinets and Inder Kumar Gujral who remained a Central Minister and rose to the coveted position of the PM of India. I found from the Google Guru that in the 1952 elections one non-descript leader of the Congress, Hira Lal won the elections making way to a galaxy of political bigwigs of various parties namely; Swaran Singh of Congress, Iqbal Singh Dhillon of SAD, Rajinder Singh Sparrow of Congress, I.K. Gujral of Janta Dal, Yash of Congress, Umrao Singh of Congress, Darbara Singh of SAD, Balbir Singh of Congress, Rana Gurjeet Singh of Congress. In 2009 elections the Jalandhar Parliamentary seat became a reserved seat for SCs and Mohinder Singh Kaypee of Congress won the seat succeeded by Chaudhary Santokh Singh of Congress twice in 2014 and 2019. His sudden death has resulted in the bye election which is likely to be held soon, in the coming months. Apart from these winning leaders, political and public personalities of standing had been contesting the seat which included; Communist wig big, Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet, a staunch Ambedkarite, Lahori Ram Balley, Prakash Singh, a top IPS cop, Arya Samaji leader Editor of Pratap Group of Publications Varinder, Hans Raj Hans, a renowned singer among others. Some of these facts are a part of oral history.
It may be observed that most of the time Congress Party had been winning the seat with a clear edge over its opponents. Same is also true for the nine assembly seats which form the parliamentary seat of Jalandhar namely; Phillaur, Nakodar, Kartarpur, Adampur, Shahkot, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar North, Jalandhar Central and Jalandhar Cantt. In the recent elections in 2022, out of nine seats, Congress won five and AAP four. SAD and BJP were completely decimated. But, of late, it has been observed that Congress party is losing its stream like in the rest of India. Moreover, it seems the Congress families of Master Gurbanta Singh and Darshan Singh Kaypee could not maintain their hold in spite of the fact that they played their dalit card to the hilt. Nevertheless, the seat remains a prestigious one and all the political outfits are fully engaged in sort listing and picking up their candidates for the forthcoming contest and rightly so.
Choudhary Santokh Singh’s family is obviously interested in retaining their hold and is putting forward the names of wife of Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Karamjit Kaur, a retired teacher and educational administrator with a view to appropriate the sympathy vote in the aftermath of Chaudhary Sahib’s sudden death at the Congress’s biggest road show in recent years. The names of Former CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s and that of Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s are also doing the rounds as Congress candidates. The prestige of AAP, having lost the Sangrur bye election, the seat vacated by CM Bhagwant Mann himself, is also at stake. They would try their every best to win the seat with five sitting MLAs in the constituency. But their problem is real. AAP, seemingly, does not have any dalit face to make a much needed dent. AAP’s credentials are still suspect with regard to the dalit issues and dalits form about 40% of the electorate. SAD has a pre-poll alliance with BSP and certainly they would put up a strong candidate. BJP is equally serious in making their entry with an élan in the Punjab politics, in the post BJP-Akali goody goody days. It is certain that it is going to be a four cornered contest.
Now I come to my own prognosis of the coming scenario as a lay man but a concerned citizen and voter in the constituency. Congress would enter the race with their tested horses and known dalit faces. But it would be difficult for them to stand their ground. They have lost their touch with the masses with poor PR acumen. They don’t tend to reply to even written communications from even the intelligentsia of the community and take community for granted. I am sorry for this totally candid an overview. They are to change with the changing times. SAD, to my mind, would rope in their old and tested horse, former Adampur MLA or some retired high-profile Babu or a Sikh dalit face with considerable financial clout. I don’t think BSP would be interested in putting forward their claim and would rather tend to make the hay while the sun shines. May be a clean and honest retired bureaucrat would fit the bill. Sad would need to pay little more attention in picking up their candidate to register their come back. BJP, with all the considerations of power at the centre and oiled and geared party machinery and the inherent support of RSS and its field agencies, has a clear chance to register a win. I think, BJP has the wherewithal to influence dalit Deras with political strategy and socio-cultural charam with particular reference to Seer Govardhanpur holy place in Banaras (Varanasi) and Guru Ravidass Mandir at Tughlakabad in Delhi. RSS’s recent stance on the caste-system may work as a catalyst in appropriating the dalit votes (my recent blog on the subject may of interest: http://diplomatictitbits.blogspot.com/2023/02/rss-chief-mohan-bhagwat-on-caste-system.html . Due care is needed in picking up the BJP aspirant to the seat. It would be advisable to shun the old guards with a heavy baggage of the past. BJP leadership has the tendency to spring a surprise and take ‘out of the box’ decisions as they did in the case of President Ram Nath Kovind and President Droupadi Murmu. It would be advisable to come up with a candidate, a fresh face as a wind of change, with a socio-cultural background of striving for an integrated society with dalits as equal partners in the main stream of the society as visualized in the Samrasta programme of RSS. These factors would tend to work in favour of BJP. As regards the ruling AAP, it is a matter of honour and prestige for the party and its leadership. But the job is all the more difficult as AAP does have no credible dalit face to jump the fray in spite of the fact that it has four sitting MLAs in the constituency. AAP’s candidate Justice Jora Singh in 2019 elections could not make his presence felt. AAP’s track record to cater to the needs of dalit communities remained dismal so far though dalits voted for AAP in assembly elections last year to bring about change (Badlab). But now they feel dejected. The coveted positions like Chairman of Punjab SC Commission and its members are lying vacant. The government of Bhagwant Mann does seem to be in a hurry to fill the posts. AAP should try and rope in some intellectual faces with administrative experience and public image from the dalit communities, if it intends to avoid further damage to its political standing in Punjab.
All said and done, the bye election to Jalandhar parliamentary seat will be a litmus test for all the major political formations in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
