If the Congress is despondent that the “Sikh Prime Minister” card may not have worked in the just-concluded Punjab Assembly polls, the BJP is buoyant that the “Hindu-Sikh” social combination has worked better than ever before and could be of lasting significance for the SAD-BJP alliance in the state.

According to BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley, who commanded the BJP campaign in Punjab for the last three weeks, the traditional divide between Hindus and Sikhs in Punjab, which reached its zenith during the years of militancy, has abated considerably with Sikhs showing the willingness to vote for BJP candidates and Hindus for the Akali Dal this time.

As a result, for the first time the BJP put up three Sikh candidates among its total 23 while the Akalis fielded eight Hindus. In addition, the popularity of Navjot Singh Siddhu, especially among the Jat Sikhs who account for a third of Punjab’s population, has gone a long way to change BJP’s image as a Hindu party.

In earlier elections, the BJP’s urban Hindu voters would not vote for a Sikh BJP candidate just as the Akali vote base was averse to a Hindu candidate. But the end of terrorism in Punjab as well as the fact that the Akalis are now seen as “moderates” has changed the traditional hostility between the two communities. If the BJP’s Sikh candidates—particularly the one fielded in the Amritsar (West) seat—manage to win, and the Akali Dal’s Hindu candidates also fare well, it will confirm that a new phase in Punjab politics has set in, Jaitley feels.

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