In Moosewala’s village, amid his father’s Cong pitch, a refrain: ‘Love the slain singer, but voting is personal’

For many fans of slain Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, hot summer days are barely any deterrent to visit his palatial “haveli” (mansion) in the Moosa village in Punjab’s Mansa district.

Some of them would pose for pictures in front of the huge doors of Moosewala’s house, shut and manned by guards. Others would just park their vehicles outside, take a look at the house, pay tributes to his statue, and leave.

“They (Moosewala’s parents) must be busy with Shubh’s little brother (born two months ago). Also, it is blazing hot. They must be resting. Otherwise, they meet his fans,” said Harmesh Singh, a resident of Moosa, who runs a tea shop in a small market that has come up in front of Moosewala’s house.

“It is their (Moosewala family’s) land. They never ask for any rent. They have allowed these makeshift shops to be set up. The village residents sell merchandise with Moosewala’s images. It helps them in earning their livelihood,” he said.

The Moosa village falls in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency from where Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s wife and sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is again contesting on their party’s ticket.

Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh has been campaigning for the Congress in various constituencies of the state on a plank seeking “justice for Moosewala”.

On Monday morning, Balkaur addressed a meeting in his village in support of Congress candidate and ex-MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu after the family organised an Akhand Path in memory of the slain singer. They would arrange for a bhog on May 29 to mark his second death anniversary.

Moosewala was shot dead by gunmen on May 29, 2022 near the Jawaharke village of Mansa. In the Punjab Assembly