Lok Sabha Polls 2014: Congress confident in Punjab;cadres pumped up

CHANDIGARH: For a terrorism-ravaged state, this had to be a potent joke. Addressing a recent Batala rally, Punjab deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said an unwilling Rahul Gandhi, pushed into politics by his mother, had devised a strategy for revenge. Everywhere, Badal junior smiled and said that Rahul has planted human bombs like Congress’s Gurdaspur candidate Partap Bajwa. As the audience rolled with laughter, Badal delivered the punch line. “The leaders will go off, and so will the party.”

Though Bajwa might not be able to defeat BJP’S Vinod Khanna, Badal may not be grinning so much by the time elections to Punjab’s 13 LS seats end on April 30. In Punjab, unlike perhaps any other state, Congress looks a different party — its leaders sound confident , the cadre seems pumped up and everyone is ready to march to the battlefield.

The fact that the top leadership has rolled up its sleeves and is fi ghting the battle from the front has made a huge difference. “What that has done,” said Pramod Kumar of the Institute for Development and Communication , a think-tank , “was galvanize party workers, who were defeated and deflated . Fielding the top leadership was always going to be a great idea that sent a positive message to the rank and file.”

Kumar has a point. While Bajwa is Punjab PCC chief, Amarinder Singh, fighting Arun Jaitley in Amritsar, is a former CM who wielded clout. Ambika Soni, who was Union minister earlier, is fighting for Anandpur Sahib, and Sunil Jakhar, son of Balram Jakhar and leader of opposition in the assembly, is Congress’s man in Ferozepur. That’s substantial firepower . Most of all, Amarinder’s candidature has charged the atmosphere, excited Congress workers.

“It’s a strange situation,” says Jagtar Singh, an old Punjab hand who recently wrote the much-quoted ‘Khalistan Struggle: A Non-movement’ . Asked why, he explains: “Something has happened for people to rally behind someone who lost two back-to-back assembly elections. They are united in their efforts for him and the organization.” Some young Congress workers in Mohali said, almost in unison, Narendra Modi was no issue in Amritsar . “How can it be when two such senior leaders are in the fray,” one of them asked.

“Jaitley will look silly if he keeps talking Modi. It’s about local issues and candidates.” If that’s indeed the case, Patiala royal Amarinder, who has the image of a fighter for the people — in 1984, he left Congress after Operation Bluestar to join the Akalis. He later left them too, unable to deal with, as some said, the Khalistani onslaught — is posing a stiff challenge to Jaitley.

Those who see meaning in Congress’s rearguard action say it’ll only help that the Badals, Sukhbir and his father Parkash , are facing anti-incumbency , especially in some of the rural belts, having been at the helm of a SAD-BJP government for 12 years now.

But talk about Congress mounting what looks like a genuine contest and a BJP leader says, “Have you noticed one thing that is common between Amarinder and Soni? It is the ‘ex’ before their names — ex-CM , ex-union minister . No doubt they are important names, but they are so only for academic reasons. Kagaz pe bhari hai, zameen pe nahi. We are not losing sleep over it.”