SAD’s sibling dilemma: Will Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia get tickets to contest Lok Sabha polls?

The name of former minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Badal’s brother-in-law, is also under consideration for the Khadoor Sahib seat, considered a Panthic seat. The Congress’s win in Khadoor Sahib in 2019 – Congress MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa is the sitting MP – came as a surprise to many and the SAD now wants to win the seat back at any cost.

Winning the Khadoor Sahib seat is a must for the party which is eager to improve its performance in parliamentary elections. The SAD is also trying to woo the Sikh vote bank that has stayed away since the incidents related to the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. While Sukhbir Singh Badal has apologised for the party’s mistakes, the SAD has stayed away from an alliance with the BJP as its government in Haryana is accused of pampering Dera Sirsa head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, an accused in the sacrilege case. The SAD has also accused the BJP-led Centre of not keeping the promise made on the 550th birthday anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji to release nine Sikh prisoners.

The SAD is hoping that staying away from the BJP would allow it to win the confidence of Sikh voters, and the Khadoor Sahib seat is crucial to gauge if the party’s efforts will bear fruit.

Meanwhile, Majithia has been on the offensive against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, so far, has failed to prove the allegations of drug smuggling levelled against him before it came into power in the state.

The Punjab Police resumed its investigation against Majithia in the 2021 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances FIR against him after Majithia highlighted Mann’s family dispute. Majithia’s image was dented as the AAP linked him to the drug smuggling in Punjab but his defence against the allegations has become stronger after the party failed to prove anything in the first two years of its government.

If Majithia and Harsimrat both contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections though, the SAD will once again face allegations of promoting dynasty politics. This is one reason why the name of former SAD MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, who stood by Sukhbir Singh Badal in thick and thin, is also under consideration.

Valtoha’s Assembly constituency Khemkaran is part of Khadoor Sahib and he is known as an unapologetic leader on Panthic issues and someone who has never shied away from taking on Dera Sirsa and BJP.

“I am ready to contest the election from Khadoor Sahib if the party orders me to do so. I meet party workers every day, and they are excited to win back Khadoor Sahib. The name of Bikram Singh Majithia is also under consideration for Khadoor Sahib. Both of us will campaign with the same zeal to win Khadoor Sahib, irrespective of who gets the ticket,” Valtoha told The Indian Express.

“Khadoor Sahib is a seat that holds significant importance for the party. It is our seat and we must win it back to counter the false propaganda that began against the party in 2015 after the sacrilege incidents were reported. Now, it has been proven that SAD was a victim in those incidents, and now the AAP government is openly protecting the culprits of sacrilege. Just yesterday, a key accused in the sacrilege case named Honeypreet was granted bail. The AAP government is not arresting Honeypreet,” said Valtoha.

Apart from Valtoha, former Tarn Taran MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu is also in the race for the Khadoor Sahib ticket. “Internal politics of the party will decide who will contest,” he said.

The Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Punjab will be held on June 1.