The ongoing political crossfire between Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress has found an unlikely victim - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The PM’s acceptance of an invitation from the SAD to lay the foundation stone of the Mohali airport and to inaugurate the Khalsa Heritage Centre, has seen raised eyebrows in Punjab Congress which feels that the move could help their arch rivals gain political mileage at a time when assembly elections are a little over three months away.
In their meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at 10, Janpath in New Delhi Punjab .
It did impact Punjab politics. SAD, fighting anti-incumbency after almost five years of rule and trying to mitigate it with a series of announcements and allurement to the voters, jumped at the first given opportunity and dubbed the Congress game-plan as regressive and against the state. “He is the Prime Minister of the entire country and not of the Congress,” said an Akali leader.
While Congress obviously does not want SAD to get any advantage whatsoever in the tough battle ahead, the ruling party in Punjab wants to announce as many schemes, do as many inaugurations and give whatever it can to the state government employees before the model code of conduct comes into force. Extending invitation to the Prime Minister to inaugurate two projects fitted in the political game-plan of the Akalis perfectly. They know that the visit of the PM to his home state (though technically Singh is a resident of Assam
The critics may say that Manmohan Singh is a Prime Minister without mass following and is not comfortable in election rallies and meetings, but he does have an appeal in Punjab and this appeal cuts across party lines and sectarian politics of region and caste. He is considered a “son of the soil” who has made it really big, an aspiration which most Punjabis and Sikhs have as reflected in their desperate attempt to migrate abroad. The Akalis may criticise the Congress and central government everyday for whatever they perceive as good or bad but they never criticise the Prime Minister, come what may. They know for sure that being critical of Singh is not good politics in Punjab and could have adverse electoral fallout. So, whenever, the Akalis mention the name of Singh, it is with awe and certain amount of reverence.
In fact, even for the Congress, the PM remains a great vote catcher in Punjab , a face on which they can bank on here. When I was reporting on the Lok Sabha election of 2009 from Punjab for the Press Trust of India, where I was working then, it was a revelation to find that the posters and banners with the picture of the PM in the publicity material of the Congress were taller than that of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. In some of these publicity materials, only the photos of the PM along with the local candidate were there along with the symbol of hand. Clearly, the candidates in the state knew the pulse of the people that it was Singh who was more important in the state than the two members of the Gandhi family.
When Singh, addressed an election rally in Amritsar Golden Temple
So the slugfest between Congress and the SAD on Manmohan Singh is not surprising. In a tough election where no one for sure knows the mind of the electorate even as polls are barely 100 days away, even a small gain and a miniscule swing could turn out to be decisive. None of the two principal parties want to squander this gain and allow the rival to have an advantage.
Though Punjab has never returned an incumbent government and it has been Akalis one time and Congress next time and vice versa, the situation is not that simple this time round. Even Congress knows that it is not a cakewalk and the traditional theory may not count much. The psephologists here too are not sure which way the wind is blowing even as election is knocking at their doors.
Several non-Congress governments have been repeated in states like Bihar , Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat and Orissa while Congress governments too have been repeated in Delhi Maharashtra . In fact, among the major states, governments have changed only in Kerala, West Bengal , Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan in the last three years or so. To put it simply, a government retaining power in Punjab is not a distinct possibility and Congress cannot take it for granted that the Akalis would be voted out of power simply because of a historical trend in the state to this effect.
Both Akalis and Congress have been hitting each other below the belt in the run-up to the elections with colourful slang and language, something which cannot be found in any other state. A senior journalist aptly pointed out that in Punjab politics is more brawn than brain, more so when a close election is being fought.
Though the official dates for the two high profile inauguration have not been decided yet, it is now a million dollar question whether the PM would finally approve the dates given the fact that his party functionaries themselves are critical of a seemingly apolitical inauguration.
A section of the Akali leaders are hoping that the PM would not campaign in the Assembly polls in February given his “national and international commitments” while Congress leaders are already planning to prepare a schedule of campaigning for Singh and they want him to be projected as the “star” campaigner.
It is now upto the Prime Minister to take a call. He will have to walk a political tightrope either way in the state, headed for one of the most interesting battle of the ballot. (October 30, 2011)
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