“For a change this time, there was complete unity in the ranks of the Congress, which was surprisingly missing throughout in the past ten years. This is a pick-up for the Congress party and a net loss for the BJP. In 2014 they contested three seats in Punjab, out of which they were victorious in two, a decent score-card. But now they are down to one only. For PM Narendra Modi, all said and done, it is a setback”, says the author.

Congress victory in Gurdaspur Parliamentary bye election on October 15^, 2017 infused a new vigor into the life of the Congress party in India in general and Punjab in particular.  Although there were eleven candidates in the fray, the scope of the main contest was narrowed down to just two- the BJP and the Congress. Due to the ugly happenings within the AAP last year, leading to the expulsion of the then AAP Convener Sucha Singh Chhottepur, the AAP challenge did not take off at all, leaving the party of Kejriwal to lick the dust once again.

The BJP did put up a decent fight in their strongholds in and around the garrison town of Pathankot. Surprisingly the SAD challenge collapsed more tamely than expected. Whereas the BJP candidate Swaran Singh Salaria lost by 10000 votes in Pathankot, 8000 votes in Sujanpur and 7000 votes in its earmarked three constituencies, the SAD citadel collapsed like a pack of cards in all the other electoral segments. Their losses were stunning; in Dera Baba Nanak by 44000 votes, Fatehgarh Churian by 32000 votes, Gurdaspur by 29000 votes, Batala by 26000 votes, Qadian by 26000 votes etc. It appeared that the people still have unabated revulsion against the rampant corruption indulged in by the top brass of the SAD during the past decade.

Overall the Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar romped home victorious by over 193000 votes, a decisive victory, to say the least. The credit goes to Captain Amarinder Singh, who planned the campaign at the macro level. Micro management was left to the local players like cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and all the local MLAs from Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts. For a change this time, there was complete unity in the ranks of the Congress, which was surprisingly missing throughout in the past ten years. This is a pick-up for the Congress party and a net loss for the BJP. In 2014 they contested three seats in Punjab, out of which they were victorious in two, a decent score-card. But now they are down to one only. For PM Narendra Modi, all said and done, it is a setback.

During an impromptu press conference on the evening of October 15^th at the Punjab Bhawan Chandigarh, the Captain, flanked by all the hard-working MLAs, was beaming with confidence. So was the victor Sunil Jakhar, President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. The Captain described it as a resentment against demonetization and the ruthless implementation of GST. The Captain described it as the harbinger of the nation-wide resurgence of the Congress. A similar resurgence occurred in Chikmagaloor Parliamentary election in Karnataka during the 1977-79 Janata Party rule, when Mrs. Indira Gandhi stunned everybody, by registering an upset victory in a parliamentary by-election. Captain Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar referred to that victory as a watershed event en route to the rise of the Congress on its path to a sensational nationwide victory in 1980.

(The author can be reached at harjapaujla@gmail.com)