Rustam
jammu, Feb 2: The just-held elections to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) ended the 11-year unbroken domination of the Congress-backed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Delhi over the politically crucial DSGMC. The results were declared on January 30, with the Congress-backed SAD (Delhi) wining a paltry 8 seats, as against its earlier tally of 28, and the BJP-backed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Badal) winning as many as 37 seats in the 46-member DSGMC. It was a spectacular victory of the BJP-backed SAD (Badal) and a massive defeat of the Congress-backed SAD (Delhi). The defeat of the SAD (Delhi) was, in fact, a personal defeat of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and former Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh, who not only extended his fullest possible support to the SAD (Delhi), but also campaigned for Paramjit Singh Sarna who, along with his brother, dominated the Delhi-based Sikh organization.
The victory of the BJP-backed SAD (Badal) indicated two things. One, the BJP and SAD (Badal), which had captured all the three Municipal Corporations in Delhi in 2012 inflicting a crushing defeat on the Congress party, continue to enjoy full confidence of the Sikh community, which constitutes a significant chunk of Delhi electorate. The positive attitude of bulk of the Sikh community would certainly benefit the BJP in the upcoming crucial Assembly elections in Delhi as well as Lok Sabha elections. There are seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and all of them were won by the Congress candidates in 2009. Besides, the Congress and Sheila Dixit have been ruling Delhi since 14 years. The impressive, nay a landslide, victory of the BJP-supported SAD (Badal) in the just-held elections to the DSGMC does suggest that the Sheila Dixit Government has become quite unpopular.
Two, the victory of SAD (Badal) has once again demonstrated that Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also heads the SAD, has become a force to reckon with even outside Punjab where his micro-management had helped the SAD-BJP combine to create history in 2012 by recapturing power for second time in a row. Punjab, like Himachal Pradesh, is known for not repeating the incumbent Government. The emergence of Badal as a leader outside Punjab will surely help the BJP-SAD combine perform well both in the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He is the only NDA leader who has openly appreciated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership qualities and said that the SAD would support Modi if the BJP declared him as its Prime Ministerial candidate. He has also said that the BJP was its most trusted ally and its relations with the BJP would remain unchanged; rather relations with the BJP will be further strengthened.
It is this unqualified support of the SAD (Badal) to the BJP which does not augur well for the Congress which surely wants to win the Assembly election, as also as many Lok Sabha seats as possible in Delhi. If the present trend continues -- which it should considering the people's mood across the nation, the Congress would be voted out of power in Delhi and mar its electoral prospects in the Lok Sabha elections. Surveys already suggest that the Congress may not win even hundred Lok Sabha seats. The fact is that the victory of the SAD (Badal) in the DSGMC elections is an additional advantage for the BJP. It is for the BJP to take advantage of the prevailing situation and it can forge ahead provided it puts its house in order and succeeds in persuading its leaders not to go public on certain party-related issues. |
