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Punjab
polity turns post-poll also
After Amarinder’s exit
from the scene and Akalis so heavily dependent on the BJP, the Sikhs
would also be weighing as to which party can take care of their
interests
Strange are the
ways of politics, and stranger they are in Punjab. Days after the
Assembly elections brought in a change in the regime and the Akalis
led by Parkash Singh Badal assumed power with saffron support,
sending Congressmen to the opposition benches, the state has gone
through such convulsions that the political scene is changing more
due to developments other than results of the elections.
A
court finally framed the charges against Badal, his wife, son, kin
and others and went so far as to explicitly state that the charges
of corruption cannot be said by any stretch of imagination to be
baseless. The judge, who could see as could anyone that the due
process of law was sought to be subverted by the government
prosecutors simply in response to the regime change, stood his
grounds and went strictly by the material before him.
At
the same time, the Congress chose to sideline its star campaigner
and face of the government, Capt Amarinder Singh, and put in saddle
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal as the leader of the legislature party. A
Hindu is expected to head the party's state unit and by all
indications, Amarinder Singh may either be left to cool his heels or
be shunted off to a gubernatorial or diplomatic posting.
So
you have the Badal family answering questions from a judge: "What's
your name?" "What's your father's name?" "What do you do to earn a
living?" It's a fate that would embarrass any public person, but as
the judge served the chargesheet stating specific instances of
corruption, the Badals said it was all political harassment.
Both, the Badals as well as Amarinder, have been diminished in
stature. But Badal has further diminished the norms of democratic
party functioning. His son Sukhbir Singh Badal was made the acting
president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, and with this one fell swoop,
Badal ensured a generational shift of the leadership as well as a
clear declaration that of the end of the era when jathedars would
represent the voice of the panth. Now it is up to the MBAs, the
technocrats and the professionals to lead. Whether they lead with
their new age skills, or only because of the hired legacy of their
fathers and remain mere "kaka ji's" remains to be seen. Therein will
lie the test for such leadership which is born, nurtured and
declared out of the folds of nepotism rather than an ideological
awareness and informed upbringing.
In
the emerging circumstances, the Akali Dal would need to think again
about its line of action. Afterall, its vote share has gone down, it
has been decimated in Malwa and peasantry is moving away from it. It
is too dependent on a party which has many problems with the basic
tenets of Sikhism. The concerns of the Akali Dal and BJP will soon
be seen as being different and a conflict of interest is interwoven
into the relationship. After Amarinder’s exit from the scene, the
Sikhs would also be weighing as to which party can take care of
their interests, and it is this calculation that may force the
Akalis to dust their old agendas.
14 March, 2007
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