SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal( centre) monitors preparations for the rally at Malout in Muktsar. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)
A faction-ridden Punjab unit of the BJP is scrambling to put up a decent show of strength at the thanksgiving rally being organised for Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Malout Wednesday. Even as the state BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP, Shvait Malik, along with several general secretaries is camping in Fazilka to make the rally a success, insiders say factionalism in the party has resulted in a “lukewarm response†from party cadres. “This is essentially a SAD show which has been organised as a farmers thanksgiving rally for the hike in MSP. The BJP was told that this rally was taking place, we did not plan it. In any case the rally is taking place in a section of Punjab where the voter is predominantly rural and where the SAD has much better presence than us,†said a senior leader who did not wish to be named.
The nearest presence that the BJP has in the area is in Abohar, where Arun Narang of the party is the MLA, having defeated the present Punjab Pradesh Congress committee President, Sunil Jakhar, in the 2017 Assembly polls. The next nearest place of BJP influence is Ferozepur which is 90 km away from Malout and thereafter the next BJP constituency is 230 km away in Rajpura. Moblising the cadres and transporting them from the hubs of BJP voter base from places as far as Pathankot, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur is a major challenge.
“The person responsible for every Assembly constituency has been told to get at least 10 bus loads of party workers. With 23 constituencies of the party this comes to 230 buses and multiplied with at least 50 passengers each the total number of workers expected to attend the rally should be 11,500. But I am sure that not more than 5,000 persons will be mobilised for the rally and that too because of the efforts of only a few senior leaders,†said another leader from the Doaba region. Since this is the first visit of the Prime Minister to Punjab after the appointment of Shvait Malik as the state president, he is trying his best to put up a strong show even as his detractors within the party are doing their best to torpedo his efforts.
“I am told that the state president is more concerned about the seating arrangement on the dais, where he would be seated with regard to the Prime Minister and the sequence of speeches than about the the number of BJP workers that he would ensure are present at the venue of the rally,†a former office-bearer of the state unit said. He said neither did the party have the funds required to secure so many buses nor would it get the cooperation of the district authorities now that they were no longer in power. “My workers know that this is an Akali show. Why would they be motivated to attend the rally and that too at a distant corner of Punjab? Out of the 23 constituencies that we fight in, 11 are totally urban while out of the rest the majority are semi-urban,†said another senior leader.
On his part, Shvait Malik has deputed several senior leaders to ensure maximum participation of BJP workers. Former minister Madan Mohan Mittal, Tikshan Sud, Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla, former state presidents Manoranjan Kalia and Kamal Sharma are some of the leaders who have been given the task. Shvait Malik said the rally would be a “huge success†as the party workers were highly motivated.
“I do not know these leaders are who are claiming that there would be problems in mobilising the cadres. Maybe they are demoralised because of the response that I am getting. Just see my Facebook page how I have held 17 rallies in Punjab after taking over. All senior leaders, including past presidents are working hard for this rally,†he said.