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| Cloudy blanket over the Golden temple in Amritsar offering a treat to the eyes on Monday. |
Sherry is high on poll cocktail
As school captain, Navjot Sidhu had fainted after his first twoword speech from stage; today, he is a crowdpuller, hopping from one rally to another, belting out ‘Sidhuisms’ and telling voters to ‘thoko taali’
Before Punjab votes, Navjot Singh Sidhu is serving it a heady cocktail of cricket, comedy and politics. The show is on and Sherry, a teetotaller himself, is on a high.
From laughing all the way to the bank with comedy shows, 53-year-old Sidhu is now tickling the funny bones of Punjabis as Congress star campaigner and candidate. At Tanda in Hoshiarpur on Tuesday, the former Indian opener starts his speech by licking his fingers, like a spin bowler before a cricket match.
“I used to hit boundaries as a cricketer. Now I will hit Badals for a six. Bhukha teh rajj janda e, bhukkhad nahin rajjda. Bhajj Badala bhajj tere layi main kalla hi kaafi aan (A hungry man gets satiated, not a greedy one. Run, Badal, run; I alone am enough for you),” he says. Lest the crowds forget to cheer, he adds, “Thoko taali (Come on, clap!)”.
He then belts out funny anecdotes from Punjabi folklore to prick the Jat Sikh pride. “Ek billa Jat da duddh pi gaya. Jat ne bille te bhaanda maareya. Naal de bande ne puchheya duddh te pi hi gaya si, mareya kyon? Jatt kehnda billa duddh pi ke muchhan nu tav denda si. Chori, upar se seena-jori (A cat drank milk from a Jat’s home. He threw the vessel at him. When a neighbour asked him why throw the vessel when the cat had already drunk the milk, he said the cat was stoking his moustache after drinking the milk. ‘First he steals, then shows attitude too’).”
He adds, “Pagri sambhaal jatta, pagri sambhaal, Badala ne tera sara lutt leya maal (Save your turban, Jat. The Badals have looted your state). Ki mein jhooth boleya? Nai taan, thoko taali (Have I lied? If not, cheer out loud).”
AAP’S TURN
After the Badals, he guns for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). More analogies follow. He starts by calling it “a baraat without a dulha” (marriage party without a groom). He takes a dig at AAP boss and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, calling him, again, “a handpump which is four feet above the ground and 120 feet below it”. Another round of “thoko taali”. More cheers.
He is not done with Kejriwal yet. Sidhu goes on to shower some more adjectives. “This Kejriwal is a very cunning man. Heads he wins, tails you lose! He wants to break the partnership of Sidhu and Maharaja saab (reference to erstwhile Patiala royal and state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh) by tweeting, ‘Sidhu will be CM.’”
And then mimics Kejriwal in Hindi. “CM face announce karna humari policy nahi hai (We don’t have the policy to announce a CM face, he told me). Yeh kaale angrez hain. Delhi se Punjab paar raaj karna chahte hain (They are dark-skinned British. They want to rule Punjab from Delhi).”
With a helicopter waiting to take him to Amritsar, he rushes through the same anecdotes, epithets and analogies at the third rally at Sham Chaurasi on Tuesday. He refuses to talk to the media as he reaches for his Toyota Land Cruiser surrounded by a security ring by staff that follows him in a Toyota Innova.
Next day, it starts pouring and we wait for speaking to Sidhu outside his residence in a colony named Holy City, a stretch of luxury within the holy city of Amritsar, lined with palm trees.
His best friend Bunny (Rupinder Singh Sandhu) remains noncommittal on an interview. Two hours later, his private security men come out of two cars and we rush back to the gates. Sidhu had to cancel his day’s roadshow at Tarn Taran and we finally get to sneak in.
OF SOCIAL MEDIA, AND A ‘JAINI’ LUNCH
Dressed in a khaki Pathani suit and matching sleeveless jacket, Sidhu is sipping tea, Punjabi style, in a glass tumbler. He talks about his resentment over being called a “hard bargainer” by the media and says he doesn’t read newspapers or watch news channels. “People are hearing me on social media. My speeches are getting lakhs of views,” Sidhu says. Then there is no stopping him.
Recalling his first speech as a school captain, he says he had to go on stage and say two words, “School dispersed”. “I fainted after saying those two words. I was a very shy child. When I scored a century, I used to dread the press. But now I don’t prepare my speeches. Even if I have not watched cricket for a while, I start the commentary after reaching the ground,” he adds. As we talk on Punjab and Congress, Sidhu hands out a file of how Badal businesses have grown over the years “at the expense of Punjab’s coffers”.
Over lunch — three sabzis without onion and garlic, and chapatis with no ghee — Sidhu says he is a teetotaller and has ‘Jaini’ food. He says he follows the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ regime. “I need six hours of sleep. I go to bed by 10 and get up at 4 in the morning. I do meditation for hours after I get up. I go into a trance. I have no internet in my house. I sleep a sound sleep as I am answerable only to my conscience,” he says.
There is jaggery for dessert and Sidhu can’t help throw yet another analogy as he eats it. “The Badals hatch conspiracies to finish people politically. Gur de ke maarde ne (They kill you by serving jaggery).”
ON HOME TURF
On the phone, he tells someone he’d welcome anyone from the rival camp to join him willingly. It’s time for him to leave for his office to discuss his campaign in Amritsar East, the seat of his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, which he is contesting this time. As he reaches for the door, his dog, Poochi, a French breed, Petit Basset Griffon, comes running and Sidhu shouts as she pees near a sofa. He fondly says his other dog is named Batman.
At one end of Sidhu’s house is a room where Guru Granth Sahib is placed. On the first floor, there is a “rare” crystal Shivling. Sidhu calls himself a devotee of Mahadev (Lord Shiva) and also a devout Sikh.
And, not just the clock, he goes by the stars too for luck. So much so that Congressmen now joke he leaves home only at a time that’s auspicious. He is wearing four rings studded with gemstones -- pukhraj and rubies -and a gold bracelet of rubies. Does he believe in astrology? Sidhu nods a yes. “I do.”
His wife is out campaigning for the seat and, other than the two pets, the palatial house with a swimming pool in the basement seems empty.
Ask him if his kids are campaigning, and Sidhu smiles, “My daughter Rabia is doing fashion designing in London and my son, Karan, is a lawyer in Delhi. Even when a traffic cop challans him, he does not tell them whose son he is.” Modesty may not be one of Sidhu’s virtues, but the gift of the gab surely is.
But, on pride, you cannot blame Amritsaris. The famous restaurant ‘Bharavan da Dhaba’ in the city tells you why. “Namak swaad anusar. Aakad aukaat anusaar (Salt as per taste. Attitude as per your stature),” reads a placard there.
SAMESAME, YET DIFFERENT
Navjot Sidhu, the biggest catch of Congress in the run-up to the polls, and Bhagwant Mann, the face of AAP in Punjab, may be in rival camps but they have several similarities, wit being one. They draw crowds like magnets, and have a mind of their own. If Sidhu can cancel a rally at the last minute, Mann can schedule one at 8am on a whim. The two are also united in their disdain for the media. Wit apart, they are a study in contrast. Manraj Grewal Sharma takes a look.
Youngest candidate carries dad’s name and the oldest card — caste
CONGRESS CANDIDATE DAVINDER GHUBAYA, SON OF REBEL SAD MP SHER SINGH, STICKS TO AN ANTISUKHBIR BADAL SCRIPT; HAS NOTHING NEW TO OFFER
FAZILKA: Davinder is a student of the five-year BA-MA (economics) course at Panjab University, Chandigarh. His last semester remains. But his real test is in Fazilka now, where he is more Ghubaya, hardly Davinder.Son of the rebel Shiromani Akali Dal MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, Davinder is the Congress candidate from this segment next to the Pakistan border. He has declared he is 25, the minimum age requirement to be a candidate. And his affidavit makes him the youngest in fray for the February 4 Punjab elections. But rivals say he is not even 24 yet. That can turn to legal fight later. For now he is firmly banking on the past to brighten his future — the family’s future, that is.
What’s the syllabus? Caste, plus perceived pride/threat.
The Ghubayas are Rai Sikhs, a Scheduled Caste (SC) that has 52,000 of the 1.6 lakh votes in Fazilka. The community has large concentration in border villages, including Kabulshah Hithad, where Davinder tells the crowd in the village square: “Saade nal Sukhbir Badal ne jo kita, oh kise ton lukkya nahin hain. Tusi saare Davinder ban ke election ladni hai, te jittni hai. (What Sukhbir Badal has done to us, is no secret. All of you are Davinder, and have to fight and win).
Variations of these lines are his speech in most villages. Nothing more. So much so that he does not even mention his rivals — BJP minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, AAP’s Samarbir Singh, and independent Rajdeep Kaur, sister of slain gangster Jaswinder Singh Rocky (a Robinhood figure who finished a close second last time).He sticks to the script even on the day that an alleged sex video of his father has gone viral. “It is a hathkanda (ploy) of the rivals,” he tells us. The father has blamed Sukhbir. The reason for the Ghubayas’ anger with Sukhbir is spelt out by both father and son: “He tried to finish us off in our stronghold by appointing outsiders to handle the seat. It’s we who had brought him to Jalalabad.”
The family’s native village, from which they take their surname, is in neighbouring Jalalabad, which Sher Singh vacated to enable SAD chief Sukhbir to enter the assembly in 2009. Ever since, Sher Singh is the MP from Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat, of which the two segments are a part. But now he’s gone rogue, and the game’s gone dirty.
“Our community’s pride is in danger,” says Sarwan Singh, 26, a mason at the public meeting. “I don’t have a smartphone, and I am too caught up in work all day to earn my living, so I have not seen any video. How does it matter?” Five labourers surrounding him nod along.
Have they seen Davinder before? “We hear he studies in Chandigarh,” says Surjit Singh, 25. What have you studied? “Zero! You see, they have land.” Davinder’s elder sisters are both law graduates and the eldest brother is an IIT graduate.
“Look, we can’t risk electing someone who is not our ‘Raa bhraa’ (Rai Sikh brother). We are blamed for all that’s wrong in this region — mostly motorcycle theft these days,” adds Kishan Singh, 29.
The dark descends by the time we follow Davinder to the next stop, Thangni. A light hanging near his head — he stands on the SUV bonnet to deliver his lines — conks off. The crowd directs mobile phone torches towards him. He is brief: “What do I need to tell you? You know what to do!” He is then weighed against laddoos, and there is minor stampede for the sweets.
We ask Davinder as he walks away: What does he feel about caste being the chief poll factor? “My father has done a lot here, and Sukhbir has tried to hurt us. That’s why I am in fray. You know everything,” he parrots.
His convoy leaves. The crowd disperses. There are no streetlights for miles. Darkness returns, and envelops the bright red tip of a cigarette that some boys are sharing in a corner. Their giggles disturb the quiet. Someone just cracked a joke.
SAD, Cong train guns on AAP
Say episode exposes Aam Aadmi Party’s links with radicals in India and abroad
Kejriwal is spending nights at residences of Khalistanis and if you vote for such people , Punjab will be pushed into turbulent times again. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab Congress chief Both the AAP and radical bodies are meeting and planning to disturb peace in the state by reviving black days of terrorism. PARKASH SINGH BADAL, Punjab chief minister
SANGRUR/BATHINDA : A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal stayed at acquitted Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) militant Gurinder Singh’s house in Moga, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh launched an attack on him, saying the AAP was association with radicals to revive terrorism in the state.
Addressing a rally in favour of party candidate Vijay Inder Singla at Bhawanigarh in Sangrur on Monday, Amarinder said: “Kejriwal is spending nights at the residences of Khalistanis. Punjab had witnessed a dark period of terrorism when around 35,000 people had to sacrifice their lives.
“Due to anti-Punjab policies, the Akalis are out of race, but I appeal you not to believe ‘topiwalas’. AAP’s 19 Delhi MLAs are in jail. How can they claim to save Punjab?” questioned Amarinder.
Meanwhile, on his maiden visit to Bathinda (urban) constituency since start of campaigning, chief minister Badal said: “It’s an open secret that AAP has links with radicals in India and overseas. “Both the AAP and radical bodies are meeting and planning to disturb peace in the state by reviving black days of terrorism. The AAP only wants to come into power to fulfil these plans,” Badal alleged.
Badal also accused the AAP and radical forces for the recent shoe attack on him early this month.
“I was attacked a day after AAP leaders asked people to physically assault Akali Dal leaders. The man who attacked me is an AAP worker and brother of Amrik Singh Ajnala, a leader of a radical body,” he said.SUKHBIR ASKS EC TO ACT AGAINST AAP
Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday asked the Election Commission (EC) to take note of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s night stay at the residence Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) militant Gurinder Singh in Moga.
Sukhbir said by doing this, Kejriwal was vitiating the election atmosphere in Punjab and this kind of conduct must be snubbed immediately.
Dhillon’s turncoat tag haunts him in poll run
SASNAGAR: It is noon and residents of a private housing society in Zirakpur are waiting for Congress candidate Deepinder Dhillon who is scheduled to arrive here for an interaction. Even kids are roaming around with flags in the small parking of the market inside the housing society.
Congress candidate Deepinder Dhillon campaigning in Zirakpur on Monday.
Dhillon, after he arrives, targets MLA NK Sharma, the Akali candidate contesting from Dera Bassi. He claims that Sharma has failed to develop the area.
“Traffic and poor roads have always plagued the residents here. I will resolve the situation,” says Dhillon. Even as he talks of offering solutions, commuters are stuck in a traffic snarl five minutes from here on the Zirakpur-Panchkula road. The condition of traffic starting from Paras Down Town square, moving towards Panchkula up to the left turn near K area, makes commuting on this road a nightmare for most.
Dubbed as a ‘turncoat’, Dhillon’s challenge lies in not only facing his opponents but to get rid of that tag to ensure his survival in politics. He is working hard by holding meetings with constituency residents, starting his day at 6.30am in the biting cold. He makes an instant connect with people, moving door to door and greeting them with folded hands, even touching the feet of the elderly. He hugs youngsters and other men at the meeting before he leaves for his next meeting.“Dhillon is talking about the issues. Traffic congestion and poor roads are major issues in Zirakpur but the government has failed to take note of them,” says Aditi Sharma, a Dhakoli resident.
But not everyone is impressed by Dhillon. “How will a person who has not lived in the constituency for the past five years ensure development? Is he not an opportunist who has moved from party to another?” questions Sukhwinder Singh of Dhakola village in Zirakpur.
Dhillon, a close confidant of Congress MP Preneet Kaur, contested as an Independent after he was denied a ticket in 2012 and was defeated by NK Sharma by 12,028 votes. He later joined the Shiromani Akali Dal and was appointed chairperson of the district planning board in Patiala. He even contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections against Preneet. Dhillon came back to the Congress in February 2016 and started campaigning in the area even before his candidature was officially announced.
An advocate by profession, the 54-year-old has already come out with a manifesto for his constituency where he promises ‘inclusive growth’ of the constituency.
Moving from one meeting to another in his Innova, an Election Commission vehicle follows him wherever he goes.
“Pollution is a major issue here and we will ensure that factories adhere to norms,” says Dhillon at a ‘nukkad’ meeting at Dera Bassi.
The Congress has put its weight behind their candidate to ensure that he wins the seat that has been an Akali stronghold so far. Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh, Congress MP Preneet Kaur and the party’s star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu have already held rallies for him.
Dera Bassi was a part of Banur constituency which was represented by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, who was Punjab’s cooperation minister. He was killed in a road accident in March 2009. In the 2009 by-elections, Capt Kanwaljit Singh’s son Jasjit Singh “Bunny” retained his seat.
Sitting MLA NK Sharma banking on people connect
SASNAGAR: You can see yellow Akali flags, a few AAP flags and some Congress ones in the market as you drive in towards Dhakoli after a right turn from the main road into K-area in Zirakpur. Akali candidate and sitting MLA NK Sharma is here to interact with residents.
“The area has witnessed a lot of development. Power issues have improved and the connectivity is better. The roads are being repaired, so what else do we need,” says Himanshu Sharma, a student who lives in Dhakoli.
Sharma’s meetings that began at 7am and covers an at least 10 villages include ‘nukkad’ meetings and door-to-door campaigning. Sharma, who has done his Masters in mathematics, is once again eyeing to repeat his term as Dera Bassi MLA. This area is known to be an Akali stronghold.
A dhaba owner, Kamal Kant, said, “Repairing and making roads two months before the elections is just eyewash. They should have done this earlier to ensure that residents vote for them without even having to ask for it.” The area is plagued with traffic problems due to congestion on the Zirakpur-Panchkula Road leading from Paras Downtown square.Development is a core issue in the area which people are talking about. Dera Bassi is witnessing a triangular contest with Deepinder Singh Dhillon from the Congress and Sarabjit Kaur from the Aam Aadmi Party. Sarabjit is the widow of late Akali stalwart Captain Kanwaljit Singh.
“We have spent ₹1,600 crore on infrastructure in the constituency.
The road network is strengthened,” says NK Sharma, a real estate developer, who is also the party treasurer.
Sharma is banking on the development of the area and his connect with area residents. “An MLA should be accessible all the time. Sharma has helped people on a personal level. He is there to listen to us and offer help even at night,” says Jaswant Singh, a resident of Lohgarh village.
“The village road has become a highway. Speeding cars and trucks pass through the village and have damaged the ramps of the houses in the village. No one is listening. Politicians come before elections and make promises but are not taking up any issues of the village,” says Tej Kaur, a Dhakola village resident.
Sharma began his political career as a sarpanch in 1998. Capt Kanwaljit brought him into politics and made him the president of the municipal council. Now, Capt Kanwaljit’s wife Sarabjit is contesting on the AAP ticket and has blamed Sharma for differences in the family.
Sharma is also cashing in on the ‘turncoat’ tag on Dhillon by openly saying in his public meetings, “I will not leave the constituency after the elections.http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
‘Badals have been committing atrocities’
AMRITSAR:Taking on BJP minister and candidate Anil Joshi who was once his close aide, Congress star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday campaigned for his party candidate Sunil Dutti in Amritsar North constituency.
While addressing a rally at Rattan Singh Chowk, he alleged that the Badal government has looted the people of Punjab during its tenure. “But the electors have made their mind to defeat Parkash Singh Badal and lay a foundation of an ideal polity,” he said.
Sidhu said, “Badals have been misleading the people by terming their ‘raaj’ (rule) as ‘sewa’ (service). In reality, they have been committing atrocities. Nobody has the right to protest here and if anybody does so, he is thrashed by the police. This reflects that a cruel rule is prevailing here.”
“Badal family has captured businesses in all the fields. This family had seven buses 10 years ago, but now the number has risen to 650. This has ruined the public transport system,” he said, urging the voters to vote for only Dutti.
Akalis ferrying cash, police lax, says Bittu
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Jalalabad/Lambi, January 30
The Election Commission (EC) has directed the police and paramilitary forces to check all vehicles without sparing government ones, including that of the police and security forces. But the security personnel are “violating” the guidelines.Tota Singh on sticky wicket in Dharamkot
Tribune News Service
Moga, January 30
Akali heavyweight and Agriculture Minister Jathedar Tota Singh is locked in a tough contest with Congress candidate Kaka Sukhjit Singh Lohgarh and AAP nominee Daljit Singh Sadarpura in the Dharamkot constituency of Moga district.
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