With Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Sucha Singh Langah openly endorsing the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, the adage, “there are no permanent enemies in politics” seems to be playing out in the bypoll-bound Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat.

“We have nothing in common with the AAP but we need to defeat the bigger enemy (BJP), for which we will back the lesser evil. I want to advise the AAP that they need to spend money they have earned to overpower Sukhi (Sukhjinder). We will applaud you,” Langah said addressing a meeting of party workers.

The SAD-AAP “bonhomie” is proving to be a tough challenge for former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of the Congress as his wife Jatinder Kaur is in the fray for the November 20 bypoll, necessitated by her husband’s Lok Sabha victory from Gurdaspur.

The SAD has decided to stay away from the bypolls after its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was found guilty of violating the religious code of conduct by the Shri Akal Takht, thus prohibiting him from taking part in political activities.

Sukhjinder’s worries are not unfounded as his victory margins in the past two elections have been narrow. While he won the 2017 polls by a margin of 1,194 votes, his victory margin further dipped to 466 five years later against the BJP’s bypoll candidate and then SAD nominee Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon.

Adding to Kaur’s challenge is Langah’s “personal connection” in the constituency, which saw fierce contests between the SAD and Congress before AAP came into the picture in 2017.

Despite forming a 31-member committee of party workers and leaders on November 6 to decide whom he would support in the upcoming bypoll, Langah seemed to have made his choice. “We have formed a committee. You (AAP) give us reason to believe that you will deal nicely not only with us but also with the people. Then the committee will decide whether to support you or not,” Langah said.

Manjot Singh Randhawa, the AAP candidate’s son, said he had not heard or seen Langah’s remarks. “However, we will have to reach out to all voters who want to defeat Sukhjinder,” he added.

While Langah has been hitting out at the Congress and BJP, he has had his “grouses” with the AAP. The former minister has objected to the AAP using “harsh words” against Sukhbir as well as the attempted murder case against SAD’s IT wing head, Nachatar Singh Gill, who got bail on Monday.

Langah too has had his run-ins with the Akal Takht too and was excommunicated from the Sikh community in 2018 after an objectionable video of him went viral. He was also booked in a rape case.

Though acquitted, he is said to have admitted to being featured in the objectionable video and post-excommunication returned to the SAD fold only last month after completing his atonement.

“We got 17,000 votes here in the parliamentary polls even when there was no leader looking after the Assembly constituency. Now our votes will grow to 27,000 and will further increase as we mobilise our supporters,” he said.

On the other hand, Randhawa has pinned his hopes on Kahlon performing well to make the contest triangular and boost Kaur’s chances of victory.