It has just been over two months since the results of the Punjab Assembly elections but there has already been a radical shift in Punjab politics and some say there could be a realignment of the political forces with the Akalis getting closer to the Congress.
While the Akali Dal is apparently
coming closer to the central leadership of the Congress to reap the benefits of
the central schemes, state Congress seems to be directionless. It does not know
and has no clue how to take on the resurgent SAD-BJP government.
Punjab Congress leaders have been
complaining privately and publicly how the Akalis are playing a great host to
the visiting Union ministers and how marginalised and low the Congress workers
and leaders are feeling.
They recall incidents of the last
two months to point out that the visiting Union Ministers played along with the
Akalis and the Congress workers were not even given opportunity to meet them while
visiting the state.
Licking its wound following the
defeat in the assembly polls, Punjab Congress now stares at the municipal
elections in Amritsar , Jalandhar, Ludhiana
and Patiala . In Amritsar ,
leaders of the party have practically come to blows, clearly suggesting that
they have not learnt their lessons from the humiliating defeat in the assembly
elections.
“Power is great glue. It binds
the leaders and the workers together. Congress leaders and workers now stare at
another five years in the oblivion and disappointment is but natural,” a senior
Congress leader summed up the affairs of the state unit.
The new bonhomie between the
Akalis and the Congress leaders has already triggered speculation whether the
two traditional rivals will shed their distrust and come close on issues. The
process started soon after the SAD-BJP returned to power and Sukhbir Singh
Badal informally began lobbying for his father Parkash Singh Badal as the
consensus Vice Presidential candidate. Though the idea of senior Badal going
for Vice President’s post has practically been shelved, the process of Akalis
coming closer to Congress continues.
Whenever the two Badals are in Delhi ,
they do not fail to meet the Union ministers with a bouquet of flowers in one
hand and a list of demands for the state in the other. After the victory in the
assembly polls, they met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several of his
Cabinet colleagues with requests for central grants and extending invitation to
visit the state. They met almost every minister who could help the state in
some way or the other.
When Rural Development Minister
Jairam Ramesh was in Punjab recently, he was given a
grand welcome with Sukhbir himself driving an SUV with Ramesh in the passenger
seat. It was practically a guided tour for the Union Minister who returned
impressed by the hospitality extended and announced a slew of schemes for the
state. However, to dispel the impression that he was “too friendly” with the
Akalis, Ramesh had a meeting with the Congress leaders as well.
Earlier when Home Minister P
Chidambaram was in the state to inaugurate the Integrated Check post at the
India-Pakistan border in Atari, a red carpet was laid for him by the state
government. Chidambaram could not find time for the Congress leaders,
triggering resentment in a section of the state Congress.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too
visited the state in the last week of April to inaugurate the Bathinda refinery
and was flanked by both the Badals. None of the Congress leaders could be seen
in the pictures and the Badals got the mileage they wanted. Just before the
Assembly elections, the Badals had invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate the
Virast-e-khalsa at Anandpur Sahib. The PM did not turn up after state Congress
President Capt Amarinder Singh raised objections fearing that the Akalis would
benefit electorally from the visit.
But the bonhomie and cozying up
with the UPA government obviously does not mean that SAD would break away from
the NDA and would join the Congress-led alliance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The entire existence of SAD is based on an anti-Congress premise and the party
knows it well. What has happened is that mutual distrust of decades and old
style politics has given way to a dialogue with development being the buzzword.
In fact, except the old guard in
the Congress (Capt Amarinder), the newly elected young legislators have had
quite a few meetings with the Badals to get developmental work in their
constituency sanctioned. These MLAs have realised that only development can
fetch them votes and being at the loggerheads with the Akalis would deprive
them funds for their constituencies.
The moment Capt Amarinder got a
wind of the development and the young legislators meeting the Badals, he
cracked the whip and asked the legislators not to meet the Badals. His advisory
to the legislators was simple. “Ideally they should avoid meeting the CM and
Deputy CM in a manner that can be projected in a way that they are more
friendly with them (Badals) than their workers because of whom they are MLAs
today”.
But the advisory of the Captain
has little or no impact on the MLAs as they realise that for getting funds and
development in their constituencies and to get re-elected, they have to have a
positive approach towards the state government. “We cannot sit in a glasshouse
and throw stones at the Akalis. After all, development would come only with the
assistance of the state government,” a young MLA said.
In fact the approach of several
Congress MLAs is similar to that of the Badals. As the debt ridden Punjab
needs central assistance and its cooperation in various fronts for the
development of the state, the Badals do not hesitate to go with the begging
bowl to the Centre. Similarly, at the micro level, the MLAs too need state
government’s support and funds for their areas.(21.5.20120
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