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Punjab has serious issues but parties are happy to keep political pot boiling

Though Singh’s government has left much to be desired, there is little talk of anti-incumbency
Last Updated 01 July 2021, 20:09 IST

Punjab finds itself at a rather peculiar crossroads of partisan electoral politics even as Assembly elections loom and myriad issues of governance hit the headlines.

While there is much talk that the coming election could decide whether Punjab will turn into a two-party contest zone in the long term or whether a third party will also find space on its turf, it is emerging as a study in contradictions.

In a state that has so far refused to fall for the ‘Hindutva-Vikas Purush’ narrative of the BJP, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has positioned himself rather uniquely. He consistently spews a nationalist line on Pakistan, secessionism and sundry issues of national security, thus ensuring that any section that feels attracted to the Modi-Shah duo’s claims will not find him wanting either in taking a hard line.

Though Singh’s government has left much to be desired, there is little talk of anti-incumbency.

Internecine wars are a feature of all three parties in contention: The Akali Dal has seen splinter factions chipping away at its vote bank and vote-catching leaders; the Congress’ factions have been swashbuckling in full public glare, dragging their fights all the way to Delhi. The AAP has never been able to decide its Punjab leader.

As if this mix was not interesting enough, some of the colourful political personalities with their own charisma, vote banks or idiosyncrasies have also made the scenario curious. Cricketer-turned-comedian- turned rabble-rousing politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is one such.

Currently still in the Congress, but with a litany of complaints against Amarinder Singh, Sidhu is an unpredictable player. After a long stint in the BJP, he sauntered into Congress, then threatened to become the face of AAP, and even now triggers wild guessing games about which party he could be part of, come elections.

His recent pot-shots at Amarinder Singh and photo-ops with the Gandhis testify to his solo power at garnering headlines, but could he be a serious team player in any party?

The Akali Dal has remained active, with Sukhbir Singh Badal leading the charge, but the Akalis continue to bear the brunt of identity politics, which they milked well in the past.

A number of incidents of sacrilege of Sikh holy scriptures that happened during the previous regime of the Badals still haunt them, and both Amarinder Singh and the AAP have gleefully kept the pot boiling, leaving the SAD to stew in its own panthic juices.

The Congress, which had made much of the sacrilege incidents, failed to pursue the cases methodically and its much-hyped probe came to nought in judicial scrutiny.

At one stage, this failure to address the concerns of the Sikhs even prompted some young turks in the Congress to raise a banner of revolt against Amarinder Singh’s leadership.

The BJP, not much of a power in Punjab and now out of its quarter century-old alliance with SAD, is working on its party structure and is more focussed on doing the ground-level work, in keeping with the RSS tradition of striking roots where numbers, history and politics do not favour it.

Meanwhile, the ‘panthic issues’ have given Amarinder Singh a much-needed handle against the Akali Dal, particularly important because the latter has now shored up its strength and acceptability by forging an alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). With 31% of Punjab’s population coming from Dalit ranks, the demographic could be politically significant, though the BSP’s vote share has remained very low in the recent past.

Interestingly, the Akalis have also been wooing some Left parties, and if they succeed, it will hardly bring the party many additional votes but it will certainly bring it some much-needed respect.

From its initial promise of being a graft-busting outfit that emerged from the ranks of common citizenry and drew support from do-gooders, intellectuals, students and professionals who felt disappointed with the mainstream political parties, the AAP in Punjab is now fighting exactly to become a mainstream traditional power player.

Its politicians come from other parties, its internal squabbles mirror those in the other parties and its election-winning strategy is a page taken from the SAD or Congress’ book. It promises freebies and sells AAP’s Delhi success in Punjab.

The Akalis have a long history of engagement with some of the glorious struggles that Punjab has seen, and the Congress has a massive legacy in Punjab. The AAP’s broad idea — that a people equally frustrated with both those parties will opt for a new alternative if it also promises populist steps— has yet to be tested with majority electoral success.

Amidst all this talk, Punjab has seen little serious debate about its financial position, the core issue of Centre-state relations, and the rank unemployment that has seen Punjabi youth make a run for Canada, Australia or any place on earth not called India, by means fair or foul.

Even more shockingly, at a time when the state is arguably witnessing a renaissance in its political culture and a broad spectrum of society is deeply, emotionally, politically and socially involved with a long-drawn struggle against the central legislation on agriculture issues, not one among Punjab’s political parties have seriously engaged with the debate about the future of its agrarian economy.

Scholars and social scientists have grappled with issues of intellectual bankruptcy; the state of higher education has hit an all-time nadir; high-charging and poorly- equipped private universities have mushroomed across Punjab; the state has gone largely missing from any research and development in the agro-economy; and state-run universities have been making news for being rendered almost bankrupt, but none of this has impacted the political narrative of the Congress or the Akali Dal or of the AAP.

What will be the political-electoral message from the Singhu-Tikri agitation to Punjab’s villages? Will farmers emerge as a distinct vote bank? Will there be a signal to vote for a specific party or some specific candidates? Will the farmers’ movement harm a particular political outfit?

With a few months still for the electoral contest, an ongoing Punjab-led agitation on the doorsteps of Delhi is a very different element in the political equation than the hordes returning home with some kind of victory. It’s safe to say that the political hinterland of Punjab is still wide open and a good slogan, an incident, or a move by any of the key players can upset any political forecasts.

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(Published 01 July 2021, 19:15 IST)

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