Sikh’s Role in Election 2025: The share of Sikh candidates in the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 is particularly in discussion this time. The Sikh community has a significant stake of about 5% in Delhi and that is why political parties cannot ignore it. At the same time, the kingmakers of the Sikh vote bank are on 11-12 seats. Many questions are being raised about Sikh candidates in this election. Will these candidates speak up for their community or remain part of the old political equations? Will there be a strong meeting of Sikhs in the Delhi Assembly this time? The question is not only related to the party’s ticket distribution but also to the future of the candidates entering the electoral fray this time.
Number of Sikh candidates
The three major parties have fielded 11 Sikh candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections this time. The BJP has fielded Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a former MLA from Rajouri Garden and former chairman of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Samiti, from an important seat in West Delhi. Apart from them, former Congress MLA from Gandhi Nagar Arvinder Singh Lovely is also in the fray from the BJP. At the same time, the BJP has given ticket to former Congress leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah against former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia from Jangpura seat.
Talking about the Aam Aadmi Party, four Sikh candidates are fighting for the legislature. After the political rise of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Sikh community had expressed full confidence in Kejriwal. The Sikh community had voted for the Aam Aadmi Party outright in the earlier elections, but could not get political participation. This is a big party issue. This time, former MLA from Tilak Nagar Jarnail Singh, former MLA from Shahdara Jitendra Singh Shanti, son of sitting MLA Punardeep Singh Sahni from Chandni Chowk and former MLA from Timarpur seat Surinder Pal Singh Bittu are trying their luck. The Congress has also given tickets to four Sikhs. Gurcharan Singh Raju is contesting from Krishna Nagar seat, only Sikh woman candidate Harbani Kaur from Janakpuri, PS Bawa from Tilak Nagar and Namdhari from Moti Nagar. Most of the faces on this list are old.
The future depends on these elections.
Jaspal Singh, who has been following Sikh politics for a long time, said that as important as the vote bank of the Sikh community in Delhi is, the Sikh candidates are also important in these elections. No party seems to be particularly aggressive towards the Sikh community in relation to the problems and issues of the Sikhs. Trust has been reposed on old faces, who are already active in politics.
In such a situation, the question arises whether the representatives of the Sikhs will be strong this time or will these old faces win on the strength of their influence and political grip? On the other hand, the assembly elections will also help in colouring the future of many leaders. This includes veteran Sikh leaders from Sirsa to Lovely, Shanti, Jarnail and Marwah. The four have a very strong hold in the community. If these candidates succeed in winning the trust of voters by prioritising the issues of the Sikh community, their future can be bright.
Challenges of Sikh Candidates
The gurdwara committee and Sikh leaders said the biggest challenge facing Sikh candidates is that this time they will get less opportunity to seek votes on new issues. Not only are there a lack of issues, but they are also identified with old families or leaders. There are some candidates who have the potential to win, but it is difficult to say how strong their support will be in this election.