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The last minute decision of the Congress to boycott the Khadoor Sahib by-election has ignited a war of words between the Congress and other major political rivals in Punjab. The episode has

taken the sheen out of the contest which is just a year away from assembly elections. The decision announced by state party chief, Capt Amarinder Singh after much dilly-dallying over the

issue may demoralise the party workers but is seen as a tactical step by the party to play it safe. The by-election in the area which was once the hotbed of militancy and which is highly

sensitive to issues relating to Sikhism, was being touted as a semi-final contest before the assembly elections due in February next year. ONE-SIDED ELECTORAL CONTEST Whatever little

interest was left in the by-election was dashed when the nomination papers of the rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, Bhai Baldeep Singh, were rejected during the scrutiny of the

documents. He is a popular figure and would have given a tough fight to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate. Congress, in any case, had a bleak chance of winning the by-election

and the rejection of the candidature of the rebel AAP candidate has now left the contest one-sided. None of the other independent candidates are of any consequence. AAP, a serious contender

for the Assembly elections next year, had not contested any by-election while it is the first time that the Congress has decided to boycott an election in the state. HOW THE KHADOOR SAHIB

SEAT WAS VACATED The assembly seat was vacated by the Congress MLA, Ramanjit Singh Sikki, late last year as a protest against a series of incidents of sacrilege and the failure of the state

government to arrest the accused. His resignation, submitted to the Speaker without consulting the party, was accepted readily, ignoring the specified rules which required the member to

appear in person. Sikki was not keen on re-contesting since none of his grievances were addressed, making it difficult to seek votes. The Congress also did not have any other credible

candidate in the constituency to replace him. The move by Sikki, which has now been seconded by Amarinder, is seen as an attempt at claiming ‘more-panthic-than-thou’ status as against the

SAD which claims itself to be the representative of the Sikh community and saviour of the panth. Snapshot NOT A FIERCE CONTEST ANYMORE * CONGRESS’ DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM KHADOOR SAHIB

BYPOLLS IS BEING SEEN AS A TACTICAL STEP TO PLAY IT SAFE. * THE ASSEMBLY SEAT WAS VACATED BY CONGRESS MLA, SIKKI, THE MOVE BACKED BY POLITICAL INTENTION OF CLAIMING ‘MORE-PANTHIC-THAN-THOU’

STATUS. * AMARINDER ADMITTED THAT THE DECISION TO BOYCOTT THE BY-ELECTION WAS ALSO INFLUENCED BY THE ADVICE GIVEN BY ELECTION STRATEGIST PRASHANT KISHOR. * KISHOR, WHO IS BELIEVED TO BE

BEHIND THE STRATEGY ADOPTED BY NARENDRA MODI AND NITISH, WAS APPROACHED BY AMARINDER EVEN THOUGH THE CONGRESS IS YET TO DECIDE TO UTILISE HIS SERVICES. * GIVEN THE ONE-SIDED ELECTION THAT

THE BYPOLLS HAS TURNED OUT TO BE, ITS OUTCOME CAN’T BE A BAROMETER OF THE POPULARITY OF THE RULING PARTY. WITHDRAWAL BY CONGRESS In fact Amarinder has been repeatedly invoking the panthic

card to curry favour. Even after his appointment as the PPCC chief, Amarinder had dramatically taken an oath on _Gutka_ (holy book), promising to eradicate the menace of drugs if the party

was voted to power. He had been blaming the Badals for orchestrating the incidents of sacrilege last year in order to divert public attention from the protests against the government by

various sections of society. > My heart bleeds to write, we surrendered before Badal and Akali's. > We have given up. I and the Congress worker fought for 35 years. > Feel bad

> — Jagmeet Singh Brar (@jagmeetbrar7) January 27, 2016 But Amarinder’s decision (which he claims the party leadership has supported) has come in for sharp reaction from some of his own

party leaders in the state. Former MP and a member of the national executive of the party, Jagmeet Singh Brar, described the decision as another instance of ‘back-stabbing’ by Amarinder. He

tweeted shortly after the announcement that “we have dug our own grave” and added that it was a “humongous fraud, betrayal” after Sonia Gandhi had approved the candidature of Sikki. The

reactions from the SAD and AAP were on expected lines. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said it was a “categorical admission of defeat” by the Congress, AAP saw its usual conspiracy

angle claiming Amarinder was “hand in glove” with the Akalis. Amarinder admitted at a press conference that the decision to boycott the by-election was also influenced by the advice given

by election strategist Prashant Kishor, who is now an advisor to the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Kishor, who is believed to be behind the strategy adopted by Narendra Modi and Nitish,

was approached by Amarinder even though the Congress is yet to decide to utilise his services. CHASM BETWEEN BJP-AKALI LOCAL LEADERS Though the ruling SAD-BJP alliance has fielded a joint

candidate, Ravinder Singh Brahmpura, the local unit of the BJP has declared that it would boycott the candidate in view of alleged excesses by local Akali leaders. The boycott may not have

any significant impact on the election outcome but points to the growing chasm between the local leaders of the two alliance partners. The constituency has been a stronghold of the Akalis

but was wrested by the Congress by a narrow margin of 3,054 votes in 2012. However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Akali candidate had secured a lead of about 35,000 votes from the

assembly segment with the AAP candidate also securing 12,300 votes. Given the one-sided election, its outcome can’t be a barometer of the popularity of the ruling party. The rejection of the

nomination papers of the rebel AAP candidate, who may have attracted Congress voters, has made the ensuing by-election a damp squib. (_The writer is a Chandigarh-based senior journalist_)

ALSO READ: Punjab Goes to Polls Next Year, but Parties Seek Early Advantage Capt Amarinder as Punjab Cong Chief: It’s Only Half the Battle Won Published: 28 Jan 2016, 9:33 PM IST