Anil Anand
Cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu was a deft stroke player as an opening batsman who always came upfront facing the fastest of bowlers, everyone knew this. But could he be as fiery a fast-bowler, not necessarily on the pitch, is the latest revelation. His courage was as predominant as while hooking the deadly bouncers over the fence as in his latest political outrage.
Who would dare raise a banner of revolt against Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi or at least question him at his/her own peril? The credit or discredit, as some in the Modi-Amit Shah camp might think, surely goes to Sidhu.
Or how else one would describe his diatribe that “ I was sunk in the Modi-wave’. The obvious reference was to denial of BJP mandate to him from Amritsar when he was the sitting MP and despite having earlier won the seat under difficult circumstances under the patronage of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His replacement Arun Jaitley convincingly lost.
It is too early to determine and discuss the impact of Sidhu’s limited revolt against BJP’s current dispensation. But his eight minutes media briefing on 25 July, 2016, has left no one in doubt that his days with BJP are over. It is all but over. And if BJP high command still intends to mend fences with him, it would be only at the cost of ignoring his reference to negative impact of Modi-wave on him and more importantly severing relations with Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD), the oldest BJP ally.
These certainly are not in the realm of possibilities despite the proverbial belief that politics is the art of possible. Credit goes to Sidhu that, as in cricket, he has broken certain conventional beliefs in the field of politics with reference to BJP. As he stood up to the fastest of the bowlers fearlessly despatching them of the front foot to the fence, he has done with aplomb questioning the supremacy of Narendra Modi which none in the BJP’s current scheme of things would even fathom.
Earlier, he had been taking-on on the might of SAD veteran Parkash Singh Badal which none even dare. Now he has challenged the total supremacy, within BJP, of Modi. He would have to bat exceedingly well to defeat the joint might of Modi-Badal duo. He certainly has the potential backed by the circumstances, provided he gets the right forum.
For excelling timing is a common denominator both in cricket and politics. Sidhu did it in cricket and he has done it in politics where he still has a long innings to play. Contrary to claims no one, at least in the BJP, had known his mind to quit his Rajya Sabha seat less than three months after being nominated at the behest of the Prime Minister himself. Ostensibly, the call of Punjab, which amply reflected in his short media briefing, was beckoning him particularly when the state is gearing up for Assembly elections.
The events, more than anything else, imbued in Sidhu a sense that his time in BJP was over and that he has to plan his next innings according to both weather and pitch conditions. So the timing was crucial to this planning. Resigning from Upper House on the first day of Monsoon Session gives a sense of his superb timing ability. This was if to embarrass the party where he cut his political teeth was also meant to derive maximum political mileage through media glare. Simply refusing the Rajya Sabha seat or submitting resignation in the dead of night would not have served his long term political purpose.
Sidhu’s fabulous sense of timing has brought him to the centrestage of Punjab. BJP has lost more than an election in his parting of ways. He was their strong bet for future in the post BJP-SAD alliance era in the absence of any presentable face. The wily veteran of many a political battles Prakash Singh Badal (read SAD) proved to be mighty for Sidhu, surprisingly, in the BJP’s internal affairs. He has killed two birds with one stone; further weakened his ally resulting in saffron party’s greater dependence on him and his party and more importantly tried to politically weaken his son and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s possible strong rival in the futuristic Punjab politics. The last factor is still to be determined. For all practical purposes Sidhu is not-out and would become a strong threat to Badal junior if the former plays his political cards well.
Sidhu is as hard-task-master and a hard-worker but he also can be a hard-bargainer. Notwithstanding the fact that his bargaining powers did not succeed with BJP but he has been trying hard with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) not only to join the party but be its chief ministerial candidate. That is the role he sees himself to be-in in future.
The fact that he refrained from mentioning AAP in his statement and the reports that a strong section of AAP in Punjab was opposed to his nomination as Chief Ministerial candidate, also spells some trouble for him. What if AAP refuses to accede to his demand to be its CM candidate?
The Congress under Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Captain Amrinder Singh has also offered him the choice to join the party. Will he do so knowing fully-well that the Captain himself is the chief ministerial candidate.
In the event of AAP rejecting his condition to be its chief ministerial candidate, Sidhu’s ambition to be Punjab chief minister after the coming elections would certainly be short-circuited. This is the only grey area in the otherwise fabulously planned political moves with active assistance of his equally politically active wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, MLA.
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