Punjab: Kejriwal’s gateway to Delhi—via Ludhiana

By-elections are usually low-profile affairs, confined to local discourses. But the upcoming assembly by-election in Ludhiana West has gained national attention. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has turned it into a high-stakes battle, treating it as a do-or-die contest, with the opposition parties equally determined to defeat it.

This by-election holds significant implications for AAP’s national ambitions. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora is contesting on the AAP ticket from this seat, which fell vacant following the suspicious gunshot death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi.

A victory for Arora will potentially pave the way for former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to enter the Rajya Sabha from Punjab and take Arora’s place in the Upper House. After facing setbacks in Delhi — both for the party and himself — Kejriwal appears to be eyeing a new political beginning in Parliament.

This explains Kejriwal’s increased presence in Punjab since February. He has been actively participating in rallies and inaugurations across the state. Senior party leaders are also fully engaged—Manish Sisodia, AAP’s second-most prominent face, has been made Punjab in-charge and is camping in Ludhiana, while Satyendar Jain has been appointed deputy in-charge and is camping in the state as well.

AAP’s governance and political strategy in Punjab have increasingly revolved around this by-election. Ludhiana West is home to many of the city’s industrialists and is largely an upper middle-class, non-Sikh constituency — demographics that AAP is targeting carefully.

Following AAP’s defeat in Delhi, Kejriwal, along with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, met local industrialists who expressed frustration over business disruptions due to the farmers’ protest at the Shambhu border. Shortly after, the state police cleared the protest site overnight — despite the Mann government’s earlier support for the agitation.

In a separate move, the state government announced plans to develop a new residential colony on 24,311 acres near Ludhiana, sparking anger among farmers whose land is being acquired. However, this discontent is unlikely to affect the by-election outcome, as those farmers are not voters in Ludhiana West.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, which had stayed away from the last few by-elections, has fielded Paropkar Singh Ghuman for this one, though he is not currently seen as a strong contender.

The BJP, which fielded Jeevan Gupta at the last moment, is banking heavily on the demography of this seat. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, its candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu lost from Ludhiana to Congress’s Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, but the BJP had led in the Ludhiana West assembly segment. The party now hopes to replicate that performance.

One key factor behind BJP’s strong showing last time was the arrest of Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu by the Enforcement Directorate. Ashu, a two-term MLA and former minister from the area, was jailed for over a year before the high court not only granted him bail but also quashed all FIRs against him.

Now, Ashu is back in the fray as the Congress candidate. When he filed his nomination, Raja Warring predicted that both AAP and BJP would lose their deposits.

Yet, beyond who wins or loses, all eyes remain on whether Ludhiana West becomes the launchpad for Arvind Kejriwal’s entry into the Rajya Sabha.

Mysterious attacks on Ambedkar statues

Incidents of vandalism targeting Bhimrao Ambedkar’s statues have been reported from across the country. These are often attributed to caste-based hostility, but the recent pattern emerging in Punjab is particularly troubling. In the past five months alone, three such incidents have occurred — raising serious concerns.

The first incident was on 26 January in Amritsar, where a man attacked the Ambedkar statue on Heritage Street with a hammer. He was caught on the spot and handed over to the police. The incident triggered widespread outrage, from Punjab to Delhi. Investigations later revealed that the man was himself a Dalit who had recently returned from Dubai after working there for over a year. However, the real motive — and whether anyone else was behind it — remains unknown.

The second incident was in April in Phillaur, where another attempt was made to deface an Ambedkar statue. Yet again, the reasons and perpetrators remain unclear.

The third and most recent incident took place on 2 June in Nangal village, also in Phillaur. A masked youth was caught on video spraying black paint on Ambedkar’s statue. The footage showed him wearing a baseball cap and his face covered with a handkerchief.

This act escalated the matter significantly. Soon after, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the US-based leader of the separatist group Sikhs for Justice, released a video claiming responsibility. He also linked the act to the 41st anniversary of Operation Blue Star.

This is the first time a separatist group in Punjab has claimed responsibility for vandalising Ambedkar statues. Pannun, known for opposing the Indian Constitution, likely saw Ambedkar as its symbolic representation. However, many believe Pannun lacks any real influence in Punjab and merely claims responsibility for incidents after they occur to draw attention.

Dalits form 32 per cent of the population in Punjab, the highest in any state. While Dalit communities across Punjab vary in customs and culture, one common thread binds them: reverence for Ambedkar. No political party in the state can afford to speak against him.

This deep-rooted respect is also reflected in popular culture. Punjabi singer Ginni Mahi, who has devoted most of her music to Ambedkar’s legacy, has emerged in recent years as a pop icon among Punjabi youth.

Unlike in other states, incidents of statue desecration in Punjab cannot be traced back to overt caste tensions or traditional conflict zones. Former Punjab chief minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi has suggested that such acts may be deliberate attempts to sow discord between Dalit and Sikh communities.

Who is behind these incidents—and why—remains a deeply unsettling mystery.