2 decades on, Simranjit Mann makes a spectacular comeback

Rising from the margins of Punjab politics, avowedly pro-Khalistan Simranjit Singh Mann on Sunday sprung a surprise and wrested the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, the hinterland of the state’s Malwa belt, striking a crushing blow to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had swept all the nine assembly segments in the constituency over three months ago.

Mann, 77, was the first to announce his candidature for the June 23 Sangrur Lok Sabha byoll and remained an X-factor in the electoral battle, which turned out to be a cliffhanger.

Pushed to the margins of state politics after a string of losses since he last won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in 1999, Mann was searchng for a victory and remained engaged in political activities in the area.

Mann, a former IPS, was arrested almost 30 times between 1990 and 2013 under sedition charges and disturbing peace in the state. He was facing almost 85 FIRs, including a record 65 cases of sedition, in which he has been acquitted. In the last 2019 elections, he got only 41,000 votes. However, now riding on the anti-establishment wave triggered by the murder of singer Sidhu Moose Wala and law and order situation in the state, he struck chord with the voters.

Apart from the Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder, he was able to consolidate Muslim votes in Malerkotla and other neighboring areas by raking up issues like Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and dubbing the ruling BJP at the Centre as anti-minority and AAP as a B-team of BJP.

As the AAP workers were miffed over having no say in the government and choice of Rajya Sabha MPs from the state, he exploited this sentiment by wooing them to vote for him to “teach a lesson to AAP. This will force AAP to work for you and Punjab”. This also hit the nerve of AAP supporters, who either remained at home or voted against the party. In the rural areas, he raked up the issue of Bargari and sacrilege cases and termed AAP as another government which is not concerned with the issues of Sikhs. He also exploited the farmers’ issues to woo voters.

“The low turnout of 45% was an indicator that all was not well with the government. We have voted for badlav (change), which is not visible as bureaucrats are calling the shots and workers are neglected,” said an AAP leader, requesting anonymity.

As the Sangrur seat has many hardliners, he raked up the bogey of Khalistan, Sikh prisoners and spoke about Sikh militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in his speeches. Thus, many of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) voters also voted for him as they found Mann a better choice as compared to SAD candidate Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana. Mann didn’t get support from the urban areas, but a five-corner contest helped him as urban votes were largely divided between AAP, Congress and BJP, while rural voters were with him. “Mann’s victory will further dent the SAD (Badal) as he successfully took over the Panthic agenda. This will dent the SAD in the SGPC polls, as Mann has credibility for not drifting from Panthic issues,” said Baljinder Singh, a Sikh preacher.