Both Amritpal and Engineer Rashid got elected to the Parliament in 2024 General Elections from Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, respectively. Both were in jail while they got elected. Both of them continue to be in jail, even after having been elected and also having taken oath as elected MPs. Both have been jailed under the Public Safety Act, as their activities have been deemed inimical to the unity, integrity and security of the country.
However, Rashid was released on bail in September last year for Assembly elections. Amritpal has been repeatedly denied bail. Rashid also got bail for attending the Parliament session earlier, while Amritpal was denied the same. Now, Amritpal has file a plea asking if Rashid can be granted interim bail to attend the Parliament session, why not him.
Interestingly, Amritpal has found support from unexpected quarters for his bail. Ravneet Singh Bittu, Union Minister of State in Railways and prominent BJP leader from Punjab asked if Rashid could get bail, why not Amritpal. This is both strange and interesting. Bittu has been a stringent opponent of Amritpal and his pro-Khalistan ideology.
In fact, Bittu’s support for Amritpal may prove counterproductive for the latter. He was elected to the Parliament from Khadoor Sahib Parliamentary constituency on a panthic and anti-BJP agenda. Although he has already lost most of the support and appeal among the masses, any indication or perception that he is being supported by the BJP will prove to be further undoing for the “radical leader”. His critics and opponents are already accusing him of being a “BJP proxy” and “a man of agencies”, standard description for anyone who has to be maligned and disgraced in public perception.
Precisely the same thing happened with Rashid in Kashmir. In the 2024 General Elections, he defeated Omar Abdullah of the National Conference. Omar, at that time, was former chief minister and a reasonably popular leader. He has again become the Chief Minister since then. Rashid defeated Omar by a margin of over 2 lakh votes from Baramulla Parliamentary constituency. In Jammu and Kashmir, there are 18 Assembly segments in a Parliamentary constituency. Rashid led from 15 of the 18 constituencies.
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During the Assembly elections held just a few months later, Rashid was granted interim bail by the court for campaigning. This turned the tide against him. He was perceived to be a “BJP-proxy”. The National Conference had already launched a massive propaganda that Rashid was being propped up by the BJP and in case he won some Assembly seats, he would eventually support it (the BJP) and help it form the government and appoint its own chief minister. Kashmir is infamous for spreading and accepting rumours as truth. Same thing happened with Rashid. He was pronounced as a “BJP-man”. Against 15 Assembly segments he had led from just a few months before, he lost all but one. This time, of the 18 Assembly segments, he could win only one and that was his personal Assembly segment Langate, he had represented earlier as well. This time his brother got elected to the Assembly.
Amritpal risks the same fate. He also won the 2024 Parliamentary elections by a margin of about two lakh votes. He has lost much of the appeal and influence he used to enjoy earlier. His party’s candidate came a distant third in the last Tarn Taran Assembly by-election. Tarn Taran Assembly segment falls within the Khadoor Sahib Parliamentary constituency that Amritpal had won in the last year’s General Elections. From Tarn Taran Assembly segment he had polled over 40,000 votes in 2024. This time in the by-elections his party’s candidate got about 19,000 votes only.
There is a message in the election and rejection of Amritpal and Rashid. While the people do express and vent their anger against the established political parties for a while, their support cannot be taken for granted. They expect their leaders and representatives to deliver. Besides, if they feel betrayed like in the case of Rashid whom people suspected of hobnobbing with the BJP, they deliver summary justice in the next election.
There is also a sense of realisation among the people that voting for emotional reasons can be a once-in-a-while thing and not a permanent affair. After all, people elect their representatives with some expectations like he may be available to them for their various problems and issues. In the case of Rashid and Amritpal, while they have elected their MPs, they have not been able to get anything done. Being in jail they can’t even be available to people personally. Both have remained in jail even after getting elected to the Parliament.
Both Amritpal and Rashid offer great lessons for both the leaders as well as the general public. While the leaders are made to realise that they cannot take public support for granted and come what may, people expect them to deliver. For the people, it is a lesson that voting merely for emotional reasons does not serve any purpose. In the long run, they stand to lose if the leader is not personally available and is confined to the four walls of a prison only.
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