Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh
For the first time in almost two decades, Punjab has found its own “Third Front” in the form of Manpreet Singh Badal, estranged nephew of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
He may not be able to reach to the double digit figures, which the party is expecting, but being an untested phenomenon in Punjab politics, he is giving the established players a run for their money.
Both Congress and Akali Dal consider the Sanjha Morcha of Manpreet, comprising of the Left parties and some factions of the Akali Dal as a “double edged sword”. They don’t know which way will it hurt but they are sure that the Sanjha Morcha would be a spoiler for many players of both the parties in several constituencies.
While the Sanjha Morcha is yet to take roots in the rural areas where the Akali Dal has continued to maintain its dominance, it is definitely attracting youth in the urban areas affecting both Congress and BJP. Also giving tickets to some rebels and others who have a strong base, the party is set to open its account in the Assembly polls.
Manpreet himself is contesting from two seats in the Malwa belt – Gidderbaha and Maur- and given the profile of the two constituencies and the opponents against him, indications are that he could well romp home in both. Political circles are already abuzz that if Manpreet wins both the seats, he will vacate one for his wife Veenu.
His father Gurdas Badal is contesting from Lambi, the constituency he had nursed for his brother and now political rival, Parkash Singh Badal. As the threat is real, the senior Badal is spending a lot of time in the constituency rather than campaigning for other candidates. This had never happened in the past as it was Gurdas who held forte for his brother in the previous elections. The margin of victory of Badal senior over his Congress rival was around nine thousand in the 2007 elections. If PPP’s Gurdas manages a decent show and cuts into the votes of Akali Dal, an interesting scenario could emerge here.
As Left parties are a part of the Sanjha Morcha, the traditional left voters could vote for the party in several constituencies. The Left in recent years got considerably weakened in the state from where Harkishen Singh Surjit, the doyen of CPI(M) and master strategist hailed from. It used to have an alliance with Congress before the 2007 elections. So whatever votes the Left gets, would have otherwise gone to the Congress. With a close contest on every seat, even a few hundred votes count. Bolstered by an alliance with the PPP, even the weakened Left could fetch a few thousand votes in the 22 seats it is contesting.
In the 2007 polls, CPI got 3.31 per cent votes and the CPI(M) got 2.25 votes in the seats from where they contested. In the 2002 polls, CPI had contested 11 seats in alliance with Congress and won 2 seats with a vote share of 22.56 per cent in the seats contested. So the Left votes in the state could go to Sanjha Morcha, making it the most serious “spoiler” in at least three dozen seats of the state.
Long before the election dates were announced, in every political meeting, the Badal patriarch had something nasty or emotional to say about his nephew Manpreet. The implied meaning was clear. He could sense that a division in the family would have political fallout. He only had to contend with one political enemy in 2007 (Congress) but in 2012, he has to contend with two – Congress and PPP.
In the 2007 elections, which the SAD won, Badal was the undisputed leader of the party with no Gurcharan Singh Tohra or Surjit Singh Barnala to contend with. He is still the undisputed leader of the party but unlike Tohra or Barnala, who retired in oblivion; his nephew is ambitious and is set to have an impact like Raj Thakre did in Maharashtra .
PPP has come out with its 100-day programme which is not populist but touches all aspects of life of an average Punjabi. This includes, curbing VIP culture, legislations on education, NRI marriages, administrative and police reforms, war against corruption, comprehensive agricultural policy, cleansing drive of Punjab rivers, amongst others. There are no freebies involved like its rivals SAD and Congress.
“We have taken a pledge for the betterment of Punjab by launching a movement called PPP for the people,” says Manpreet, as he moves around the state in support of his candidates, hoping that someday the core vote bank of Akali Dal would shift to his party. (25.1.2012)
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