Broom With A View Along Five Rivers

The massive crowd is perfec­tly still, rapt in attention. Bha­gwant Mann, Aam Aadmi ­Party바카라�s Member of Parliament from Sangrur, is on stage. He is AAP바카라�s most heavyweight campaigner for the Punjab ­assembly election, due on February 4. His 바카라�kikli바카라�, or ditties, are a massive hit at rallies. When Mann sings, people in the audience turn on their mobile phone torches, making scores of pale lights glow in the twilight.

Those gathered for Mann in this Jalalabad rally have heard his kikli bef­ore. So many times, in fact, that they rem­ember it. 바카라�Kikli? (This song?)바카라� Mann booms into his microphone and the audience shouts back, 바카라�Kalir di (It바카라�s about a girl).바카라� 바카라�Gaap? (Lies?)바카라� Mann croons and the crowd responds, 바카라�Sukhbir di (They come from Sukhbir Badal).바카라� 바카라�Smack?바카라� he asks and they respond: 바카라�Order it from the border.바카라�

The audience grasps Mann바카라�s message, which is about holding Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikramjit Majithia res­ponsible for the state바카라�s drug problem. Freeing Punjab of drugs is not just a key promise of his party, it is, quite literally, AAP바카라�s rallying cry. Around this, it has built up a state-wide campaign to directly target top leaders of the SAD on all issues, from corruption to governance.

At Majitha, half an hour from Amritsar by road, the impact of this strategy is apparent. This seat is held by Bikramjit, who is also deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal바카라�s brother-in-law. 바카라�Jhandi Akali ni, vote Lalli ni (I will let the Akali banner flutter on my roof, but my vote is for Lalli),바카라� says spare parts dealer Harpreet Singh, expressing a common sentiment in this region. Weariness has set in after 10 years under SAD rule and Harpreet, who once voted for Bikramjit, has now turned to Congress candidate SRS Lalli.

Others in Majitha are gravitating to Himmat Singh Shergill, the AAP candidate. Yet, it is the SAD pennant바카라�scales set against a saffron background바카라�that flutters on practically every rooftop. 바카라�Badal바카라�s men바카라� have put them up, residents say, so they dare not remove them. 바카라�The banner, however, doesn바카라�t indicate whom we will vote for,바카라� says Gurcharan Singh, a local merchant.

A pepper-bearded and moustachioed Lalli, a political powerhouse who is energetically taking on a still-youthful Bikramjit and the 바카라�newcomer바카라� from AAP, says, 바카라�I assure you, they will vote for the Congress. Shergill will not be able to make a dent here. I will win Majitha and this constituency will also have the highest polling percentage in Punjab.바카라�

Congress leaders, Lalli tells Outlook, are 바카라�entrenched바카라� in Punjab바카라�s system and hence more suited to take over from the flailing SAD. He dismisses Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal as an 바카라�outsider바카라�. As for the SAD flag fluttering all over Majithia, he chimes in cheerily, 바카라�Jhandi Akali ni, vote Congress ni.바카라�

The charge of being 바카라�outsiders바카라� in Punjab is one that repeatedly comes the way of AAP바카라�s top leadership, including Kejriwal. 바카라�If AAP is an 바카라�outsider바카라� then what is Rahul Gandhi? An insider? And Sonia Gandhi? Are not AAP바카라�s contestants and leaders from here? This charge make no sense,바카라� says Kejriwal, who has been camping in Majitha and Amritsar as the party does last-minute push-ups for the Majha and Doaba voters. Like Lalli, Kejriwal too believes Majitha might indeed slip from Bikramjit바카라�s hands, but he hopes it would fall for Shergill바카라�s ardent embrace instead of the Congress바카라�s waiting handshake.

Outside a dusty, old godown in Majitha, while Akali-branded vehicles bustle to and fro, their loudspeakers blaring, stands Manjeet Singh, a white-bearded Sikh well into his 60s. It is men and women like him, who usually voted Akali but are now shifting allegiance, that the Congress and AAP are vying for, everywhere in Punjab. 바카라�Pakoda Akali ka, chai Congress ki, vote jhadoo ka (Eat Akali snacks, drink Congress tea, vote AAP),바카라� he says. The reason Manjeet cites for wanting to move away from the SAD바카라�the 바카라�be-adabi바카라� or desecration of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, by unknown miscreants in different parts of the state바카라�are not unusual either. The Sikhs have expressed outrage not just in the Majha region, but also in Patiala and Sangrur in the Malwa, Jalalabad of Fazilka district and Zira in Ferozepur district.

바카라�The Badals punished nobody for rep­eated sacrilegious acts on the Granth Sahib. They did nothing. Moreover, they are money-minded. Parking fees are now levied even at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple, Amritsar). This is unacceptable,바카라� says Manjeet. 바카라�We voted Congress or SAD for 70 years. Now there is someone new here.바카라�

Just about a mile to the east of Majitha is another twist to the Punjab election tale. At the tiny settlement of Idgah, the rage of the 350-odd voters is directed against political outfits of all shades for their neglect of civic facilities, education and healthcare. 바카라�Hamara vote gupt hai (our vote is a secret),바카라� say a group of residents. 바카라�You will find out only on March 11 when results are declared.바카라� Among the AAP rank and file, there is a strong belief that all such voters, who are keeping their intentions under wraps, have already chosen the jhadoo, or broom.

If Majitha is in ferment, Amritsar is in a flap. Every street corner has, it seems, people supporting a different party바카라�the AAP has votaries among traders in the walled city and many from the middle classes. On the whole, it is the Congress that gets talked about more. This apparently has less to do with the party바카라�s high-profile candidate, former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, than with the fact of the Congress being 바카라�entrenched바카라� in the state바카라�s system, as Lalli put it, offering a known alternative to those with strong anti-Badal sentiments.

바카라�I will vote as the pradhan of my colony wants,바카라� says Bhagwati, a middle-aged tea seller whose stall is outside a shopping mall. 바카라�If we do as he says, he will at least give us food to fill our bellies for five full days.바카라� She is a typical Amritsari voter, who will swing wherever her 바카라�network바카라� swings. In her case, the pradhan has been leaning on 바카라�Panja바카라� (hand), the Congress바카라�s election symbol, so far.

Bhagwati lost Rs 3,000 in the aftermath of demonetisation바카라�a solid blow that has left her seething against the BJP and their ally, SAD. The majority of traders share this sentiment. Many feel this is reason enough to deny the vote to the old established parties바카라�the BJP, the Congress and the Akali Dal바카라�making AAP the natural choice.

This is what makes the average AAP volunteer believe that this election in Punjab is not a 바카라�normal바카라� one and hope this would be an election for voters to seek a total break from their past choices. While AAP hopes this shift becomes widespread, the Congress is consolidating voters around its most popular leadership, often in urban and semi-rural constituencies.

바카라�Jhadoo ka zor hai yahan (Here, AAP is a force to reckon with),바카라� says Kuldeep Kaur, a resident of Chuchak village near Zira town in Firozpur district, south of Amritsar. She, too, cites the Granth바카라�s desecration as a key grouse, but others here have more ­complaints. 바카라�Badal did only one job바카라�drugs,바카라� says Gursekh Singh, a farm worker. Harjinder, a ­carpenter, says, 바카라�The fight here is bet­ween Congress and the jhadoo.바카라� Echoing the words of a senior state police CID officer, who said there were reports of 바카라�silent support바카라� for AAP in the villages, Bohra Shah, another resident, says, 바카라�This time the mahaul (buzz) is more around Kejriwal. Politicians fool us every time. This time, we will fool them.바카라�  Here, too, people insist the brand new SAD and Congress pennants flapping all over their homes are no indication of where their sympathies lie.

바카라�We can바카라�t refuse any leader, so we end up attending every party바카라�s rallies. It means nothing. Since they started tearing down or blackening Kejriwal-jhadoo posters, we have stopped displaying them,바카라� says Manjeet Kaur, from one of the better-off landowning households. In Punjab바카라�s scheme of things, the coming together of the poor and rich sections of villagers in Chuchak and elsewhere indicates a possible Dalit-OBC combine taking shape.

Deeper south, still in the Majha belt, lies sleepy Jalalabad within the Fazilka assembly segment, now transformed into a nerve centre for Punjab politics, as the seat is held by Sukhbir Badal. He is being challenged by AAP바카라�s Bhagwant Mann and another MP, Ravneet Singh Bittu of the Congress. The dominant Rai Sikhs here are watching the pre-election hubbub with wry, slightly anxious indulgence. 바카라�Oh we don바카라�t know if jhadoo will win,바카라� says Jagneet Singh, who runs a medical store, though he readily admits there is 바카라�more anger against the Badals바카라� here.

Bittu has teamed up with disgruntled SAD MP Sher Singh Gubaya. The apparent reason is the release of 바카라�sex tapes바카라� implicating Gubaya, also a Rai Sikh. This turned him and other Rais against the Badals. So he backs Bittu for these polls. 바카라�Pata nahin, jhadoo na chal jaye (I can바카라�t be sure, but the broom might sweep us up),바카라� says Ravneet Kaur, a housewife who attended an AAP rally led by Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia in Jalalabad.

Further east, in Patiala, the Malwa reg­ion바카라�s eastern district, and in the urban areas of Sangrur, the Congress and AAP are snapping at each other바카라�s heels. 바카라�I always voted Akali, but now I am with AAP. I got tired of the Akalis treating us as a vote-bank,바카라� says Manjit Singh, a small shopkeeper at Patiala바카라�s Paranda Bazaar. Overwhelmingly, all but the older generation of Badal-Akali supporters say they want to signal their disenchantment by voting 바카라�for something different바카라�. 바카라�People didn바카라�t have a choice before바카라�it was either Badal or the Congress. Today, there is a new option and it wears a stamp of honesty on its forehead,바카라� says Jaspreet, a chemist in Galbatti, a Patiala village.

The situation all parties want to avoid is a three-cornered contest, but in Majha and Malwa, where lie 90-odd of Punjab바카라�s 117 seats, this is exactly what seems likely in urban areas. 바카라�Sikh families often vote for the Akalis out of sheer loyalty,바카라� says Prabhdeep, a panchayat member of Bagrian in Sangru. 바카라�That is why, even though AAP was poised to win some time ago, now things are not that clear. Everyone is in the race.바카라� There is, however, still that matter of a silent vote바카라�who knows, on election day, who will they shout out for.