Cong finetunes Malwa strategy with Moosewala’s induction
CHANDIGARH : When controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala joined the ruling Congress last week, the party laid out the red carpet for him.
The 28-year-old singer, whose real name is Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was inducted in the presence of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary and several other party leaders in Chandigarh in the full glare of publicity.
Both Channi and Sidhu sang paeans to the “Youth Icon” with the former calling it a “revolutionary day in state politics.” He accompanied three of them to Delhi and met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi the same evening.
Big hit among youth
Being touted as a “prized catch” by the Congress ahead of the state polls, Moosewala is a big hit among the youth and his fan following of nearly 10 million subscribers on YouTube and 7 million followers on Instagram is matched by very few singers. The party plans to make full use of his popularity and ability to pull in the crowds to connect with the youth in the Malwa region, according to party leaders familiar with the development.
Accused of promoting violence through songs
However, his grand entry has surprised and shocked many, including some in the ruling party.
The reason: he comes with baggage – a history of violent songs that allegedly promote gun culture and radicals. Last year, the rapper was booked for promoting violence and guns through his song “Sanju”. He was earlier booked under various provisions of the Arms Act and the Disaster Management Act in Barnala after his photographs of firing an AK-47 rifle at a firing range during the Covid lockdown surfaced on social media. In one of the songs last year, the singer also hailed militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale triggering a controversy.
The opposition parties and experts have been quick to lash out at the Congress for the induction with BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh dubbing the Congress support to “such criminal elements” as a warning bell for the state. Guru Nanak Dev University’s former head of political science department Professor Jagrup Singh Sekhon says this exposes their (Congress’) lack of commitment to ideology and their internal contradictions.
“They (Congress) just want to win the elections. Moosewala may pull in crowds and help them get some votes, but what about the ideology of the party and its leaders. They talk about a cultural commission to curb the glorification of arms in Punjabi songs, but then take someone indulging in the same. This is the crisis in politics,” he says, questioning BJP MP and actor Sunny Deol’s contribution in the same vein.
Resentment in section of Congress
Also, the joining of Moosewala has led to resentment among a section of the leaders in Mansa district which was visible at the Congress rally in the area on Friday – the first party event attended by the singer, when a group of party workers protested against him in the chief minister’s presence.
But the Congress sees Moosewala as worth the risk, and critical to its electoral plans in Mansa, to which the singer belongs, and the adjoining districts of Barnala, Sangrur and Bathinda, to counter the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) whose state chief, comedian-turnedpolitical Bhagwant Mann, is also a huge draw.
Though the Congress had won a two-thirds majority in the 2017 state polls, its performance in Mansa and Barnala, where it drew a blank, was nothing to write home about. The party also faced stiff competition from the AAP in Bathinda and Sangrur districts. “Moosewala is hugely popular among the youth who admire him. In his songs, he talks about correcting the system. It is gain for the party,” says Surinder Dalla, media adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, fobbing off the criticism.
The singer’s accessibility to his fans and the support he gave to farmers during their protest at Delhi’s borders against the three farm laws are also being cited as pluses for him. There is already talk in Congress circles that he may be fielded from Mansa – a seat that the party has won only once in the past five elections.
“We have nothing to lose. Sitting MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia has already joined the Congress from the AAP and Moosewala’s entry will also give a boost to our prospects, irrespective of who gets the ticket,” argues another Congress leader.
While the rapper surely has the pull to draw crowds at rallies, no one seems sure if it will translate into anything substantive on the ground. Before him, several other Punjabi singers, stage performers and celebrities – Bhagwant Mann, Hans Raj Hans, Mohammad Sadique, Jassi Jasraj and Gurpreet Ghuggi, to name a few – have taken the political plunge but only a few have got success.
Celebrities who took political plunge
Mann is a two-time MP from Sangrur and the most popular state leader of the AAP, whereas Sadique became a legislator from Bhadaur in his electoral outing in 2012 and then got elected to Lok Sabha from the Faridkot reserved constituency in 2019. Hans, who comes from the Valmiki community, joined the SAD and contested the Lok Sabha election from Jalandhar in 2009, but lost. When he was denied the ticket in 2014, the singer-politician joined the Congress. Hans got his first taste of electoral success with the BJP – the party he joined five years ago, which fielded him from the North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Ghuggi and Jasraj, on the other hand, had short and unsuccessful stints. Only time would tell what course Moosewala’s political career charts in Punjab politics.