Analysis: Emerging Sikh Faces of BJP

Chandigarh: Be it from Congress or Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) background,  the experienced and known Sikh faces are beelining to join BJP, the latest example is former Punjab minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Before him, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh,  former minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, former MLA Fateh Jang Bajwa etc. have already joined the party and emerged as pro-Hindutva Sikh leaders of BJP.

The two days Punjab BJP’s executive committee meeting which concluded on January 23rd in Amritsar witnessed the success of ‘Sangh Parivar’s’ outreach to Sikh leadership and made them a powerful alley in Punjab to promote BJP's legend. During the two-day meeting a  whole new BJP’s Sikh leadership, proudly wearing saffron scarves, was seen sitting in front rows.

These BJP’s Sikh faces have their narrative of  Panthic issues which they raise from BJP’s stages. On the concluding day of Punjab BJP’s executive committee meeting, BJP Punjab president Ashwani Sharma talked about Kartapur Corridor and credited the success of its opening on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

‘Nanak nam leva sangat’ had to wait for decades and their dream of the opening of Kartapur Corridor was fulfilled only after Narinder Modi became the Prime Minister of the country” he said. The Panthic issues are raised from the BJP’s stages in a perspective that suits both Hindu and Sikh leadership.

Punjab BJP Core Committee member Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna told Zee News that the Sikh leaders of BJP would help to understand and resolve the Panthic issues in a better way.

As everything comes with a price so is the case here, more the Sikh faces joining BJP, the more competition is brewing within them and in some cases, a tug of war is being reported even for small party posts. 

Induction of Sikh faces into BJP  is also seen as an image-building exercise by the senior party leadership to gain the trust of the majority of Sikh voters of Punjab and also decimate the opposition political parties propaganda of branding BJP as the only Hindu party promoting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology.