Cakewalk turned into nightmare for Arun Jaitley as BJP let him down, Badals failed to deliver

Amritsar, Punjab (May 18, 2104): As the saffron euphoria captures the country, Amritsar is one place where the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as Shiomani Akali Dal (Badal) are facing a major embarrassment, with senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley getting knocked down by his Congress rival Capt Amarinder Singh by a margin of over 1 lakh votes.

Choosing Amritsar in Punjab to make his electoral debut, Arun Jaitley had landed in the city on March 18, with hopes of having a cake walk. However, the electoral scenario changed as soon as the Congress fielded Captain Amarinder against him.

Dubbed as one of the toughest contests in the state, the battle in Amritsar saw the Jaitley-Amarinder slugfest touching a new low during the campaign. However, the election result proved the predictions of a close contest wrong with Amarinder winning the seat with an impressive margin.

A close look at the results indicated that the people of Amritsar constituency showed hardly any trust in the Badal-BJP combine this time. Moreover issues raised during the campaign turned the electoral battle of Amritsar in to Hindu-v-Sikh issue. Amritsar is a Sikh majority constituency.

Amrinder Singh, though a candidate of ‘anti-Sikh’ Congress party, was viewed as a Sikh candidate becuase of his history of resignation in opposition to June 1984 attack on Sikhs. Moreover, supporters of the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), mostly Sikhs, in Amritsar voted strategically against Arun Jaitly.

Out of the total nine assembly constituencies, Arun Jaitley managed to secure lead in only two–the rural segments of Majitha and Raja Sansi. As far as urban segments were concerned, the BJP let down its big leader in a major way.

Local factors also played major role this time in Amritsar polling. Arun Jaitley got a severe drubbing in all the five urban constituencies. In Amritsar (East), represented by Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, he trailed by 32,000 votes while in Amritsar (North), local bodies minister Anil Joshi’s constituency, he lost by 19,000 votes.

Even in Inderbir Singh Bolaria’s constituency, Amritsar (South), Jaitley lost by 22,000 votes. From Amritsar (Central) and Amritsar (West), the segments represented by Congress MLAs, Jaitley trailed by 18,000 and 36,000 votes respectively.

It was such a big embarrassment for the BJP leadership that Anil Joshi sent in his resignation even before the counting was completed in Amritsar, taking “moral responsibility” for the defeat.

Though revenue Minister Bikram Majithia was seen with Jaitley throughout the election, the results failed to bring any relief for the BJP nominee.

The SAD-BJP leaders, who predicted a big win for Jaitley in the constituency, finally saw the BJP stalwart losing the polls comprehensively.

The issues such as imposition of property tax in the state, drug menace, the Sidhu factor and the rift in some sections of the SAD and BJP contributed to the big defeat in battleground Amritsar.