In Punjab, four assembly by-elections are due which have been necessitated after the sitting legislators from these constituencies got elected to the parliament.
These include Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala from where the sitting legislators got elected. They include the Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who represented Gidderbaha and was elected to Lok Sabha from Ludhiana, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa from Dera Baba Nanak, who got elected from Gurdaspur, Meet Hayer from Barnala who was elected from Sangrur and Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Chabbewal who got elected from Hoshiarpur.
Of these four assembly segments, it is the Gidderbaha, which will be the most keenly watched and contested election for multiple reasons.
First, it was, till 2012 the family borough of the Badals, represented by Manpreet Singh Badal. In 2012, Raja Warring defeated Manpreet Badal, who had parted ways with the Shiromani Akali Dal headed by his uncle and the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Manpreet had formed his own People’s Party of Punjab at that time.
It is common knowledge that Sukhbir Singh Badal at that time helped Raja Warring to ensure the defeat of his cousin Manpreet Badal as he had rebelled against the family.
This is a decision he may not like in hindsight as Warring has proved to be a tough challenge and also a bête noir for the Akalis, the Badals in particular.
Akalis and Gidderbaha
Gidderbaha holds an important place for the Akalis in general and the Badals in particular. It was from here that the Shiromani Akali Dal started to revive itself in the aftermath of over a decade of militancy in Punjab about thirty years ago, during which the Akali Dal had politically touched its nadir.
Gidderbaha assembly segment fell vacant after the death of then-sitting Congress MLA Raghubir Singh in 1995. The Akalis decided to contest the by-elections after having boycotted the assembly elections of 1992, which saw Congress forming the government headed by Beant Singh. These elections had seen a very low turnout.
By 1995, Punjab had transformed and peace had returned. The Akalis, Parkash Singh Badal in particular smelled an opportunity in Gidderbaha, the heart of Malwa. The senior Badal fielded his nephew, Manpreet Badal from here, as Sukhbir Badal was not much involved, and not much interested, in politics till that time.
It was a closely and keenly contested by-election. The then Chief Minister Beant Singh put his entire might into the by-election, having shifted the entire government to Gidderbaha, somewhat similar to what Bhagwant Mann did to fight the Jallandhar West by-election recently. While Mann managed to win, Beant Singh had lost Gidderbaha.
Manpreet Badal defeated the Congress candidate Deepak Kumar by a slim margin of less than two thousand votes. But it was enough to revive the Akali Dal. That by-election victory was a turning point for the Akali Dal and the Badals. This victory laid down the foundation for the Akali Dal’s return to not only mainstream politics but also power, in the 1997 assembly elections.
Another contest, 29 years later
It is now after 29 years that Gidderbaha faces another by-election of epic proportions. Much has changed during the last 29 years. Sukhbir Badal, virtually handed over Gidderbaha, otherwise thought to be an Akali bastion, to the Congress by helping Raja Warring in 2012 to defeat his cousin, Manpreet Badal. Warring, never let it go for the subsequent two elections.
Warring was the only Congress MLA who won from the Malwa region in 2022 against the Aam Aadmi Party tsunami. He is firmly rooted and grounded there. Manpreet Badal shifted out from Gidderbaha. Before the 2017 elections, he had dissolved his party, the PPP and joined the Congress. He contested from Bathinda Urban and won from there to become Finance Minister in the Congress government. He again contested as a Congress candidate in 2022 and lost to the AAP candidate.
Manpreet Badal is right now in the Bharatiya Janata Party, which, according to him, is now his permanent home. Recently, when there were rumours that he might return to his parent party, Shiromani Akali Dal headed by his cousin Sukhbir Badal and contest as the Akali candidate, he came out with a strong denial, saying he will remain with the BJP only. He did not rule out contesting as the BJP candidate, if the party decided to do so.
His clarification was necessitated after the Akali leader Hardeep Singh Dimpy, who has claims over Gidderbaha claimed that Sukhbir had asked him about fielding Manpreet for the by-elections as an Akali candidate. Dimpy has since resigned from the Akali Dal and joined the ruling AAP. He is most likely going to be the AAP candidate from here.
An epic battle to behold
Gidderbaha will promisingly be a sort of an “epic” battle this time after 29 years. The Congress, in all likelihood, may field Amrita Warring, wife of Raja Warring, who has held the seat consecutively for three terms.
Ruling AAP will obviously give its best. Chief Minister Mann has established himself as a tough campaigner taking the challenges head-on, particularly when Gidderbaha offers a chance in a multi-cornered contest.
Sukhbir also will do everything in his power to reclaim the seat, which can go a long way in redeeming his own image and prestige, given the challenges he is facing in his leadership right now.
The BJP may also like to take the chance since it has nothing to lose. In case the party decides to field Manpreet Badal from here, it is going to be an iconic contest.
Gidderbaha by-election is certain to revive the 1995 memories, but of course under changed situations and circumstances. It will be a battle worth watching, with high stakes for everyone involved.
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