Gurugram: Ahead of the Haryana elections, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) secretary general Digvijay Singh Chautala has announced the installation of a statue of slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala at Dabwali, an assembly seat represented by his parents in the past.
Digvijay, the younger brother of former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, is apparently preparing to contest from Dabwali. He is also the national president of the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), the student wing of the JJP.
The JJP leader told ThePrint over phone Wednesday that the plan to install Moosewala’s statue at Dabwali was not new, and that he had discussed it with the singer’s father immediately after Moosewala’s murder in May 2022.
“When I met Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh after the singer’s murder, I sought his permission for the installation of a statue in Dabwali since it is located on Haryana’s border with Punjab and represents the combined culture of the two states. I also requested him to give me the date when he could unveil it,” he said.
“On the same day, the Punjab CM also proposed to set up a statue at Bathinda. However, Balkaur Singh told me that the family was too traumatised to discuss any such proposal at that stage. He wanted some time to think over it. During my subsequent meetings, he gave his consent and now Sidhu Moosewala’s entire family will come to Dabwali on 15 September to unveil the statue,” he added.
Digvijay further said the site was yet to be finalised, but an 11-feet tall metal statue had been prepared in Jaipur and was ready for installation. He had made the announcement relating to the statue at a meeting of INSO student leaders in Chandigarh Monday.
When asked for the reason why Moosewala’s statue was being put up in Haryana, Digvijay said the singer’s mass appeal among youth transcended geographical boundaries and people in Haryana loved him as much as those in Punjab.
“Sidhu Moosewala was not just a singer but a youth icon. Youngsters across Punjab and Haryana emulated what he did. Our youth had forgotten to drive tractors in their fields; they returned to the tractors thanks to Moosewala’s motivating video albums,” the JJP leader told ThePrint.
When reminded that Moosewala’s single SYL referred to the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, which has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for decades, and its lyrics stated that “we (Punjab) won’t even give a drop of water”, Digvijay said that singers sometimes chose controversial topics for their songs.
The song SYL was released after his murder and was later removed from YouTube citing a “legal complaint by the government”.
The decision to install Moosewala’s statue was not based on political considerations, he asserted. “There is no politics involved in this. This is purely for honouring the memory of a singer who inspired youth across the two states.”
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Who was Sidhu Moosewala?
Sidhu Moosewala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was a popular Punjabi singer, songwriter and actor.
Known for his impactful songs, Moosewala blended traditional Punjabi music with modern rap and hip-hop influences. His lyrics often revolved around social and political themes, as well as issues faced by the youth, particularly in Punjab.
Born on 11 June, 1993, at Moosa village in Punjab’s Mansa district, Moosewala gained immense popularity for his unique voice and style. He released several hit songs, including So High, Legend, Warning Shots, Same Beef, and Bambiha Bole.
Moosewala was killed on 29 May, 2022, in his village, allegedly by sharpshooters sent by gangster Goldy Brar, a key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. His untimely death sent shockwaves among his fans and the Punjabi music industry.
Politics behind Moosewala’s statue
The installation of Moosewala’s statue in Haryana’s Dabwali is likely to impact Sikh voters, as well as help Digvijay in his student politics since the INSO contests student union elections in Panjab University every year and the polls are due soon.
Located on Haryana’s border with Punjab, Dabwali has a significant population of Sikh voters. Kilianwali, almost a twin town of Dabwali, falls in Punjab’s Lambi assembly seat which was represented by former Punjab CM and late Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal.
Owing to Badal’s close ties with the Chautala clan, Sikh voters in Dabwali and the surrounding Haryana assembly seats of Sirsa and Fatehabad have been voting largely for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by Digvijay’s grandfather Om Prakash Chautala.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, however, Sikh voters mostly went with the Congress.
Besides Dabwali, the JJP is attempting to win over Punjabi voters in nearby areas like Kalawali, Rania, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Ratia and Tohana. These areas were once considered strongholds of the Chautala family, but the situation appeared bleak in these regions during the Lok Sabha elections. The JJP and INLD did not perform well in Sirsa.
Digvijay has not won any election so far. In 2019, he had unsuccessfully contested against Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Sonipat Lok Sabha seat. He tried his luck in the Jind assembly by-election in January 2019 but was defeated there as well.
Reserved for the Scheduled Castes before the 2007-08 delimitation exercise, the first election to Dabwali assembly seat in 2009, when Digvijay’s father Ajay Chautala was elected as MLA.
However, Ajay Chautala along with his father O.P.Chautala, a former CM, was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years in 2013 in the JBT recruitment scam.
Ajay’s wife Naina Chautala successfully contested from Dabwali in 2014 but she didn’t stand again in the 2019 assembly election and shifted her base to Badhra in Bhiwani.
In 2019, Congress’s Amit Sihag defeated Aditya Devilal of the BJP in Dabwali by over 15,000 voters, while the JJP’s Saravjit Singh Masitan and INLD’s Sita Ram finished a poor third and fourth, respectively.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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