Congress stares at early Lok Sabha polls

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The political churning at the national level and in some of the states point to a fact which may not be music to the ears of the ruling Congress led UPA. The next Lok Sabha elections could be held earlier than April-May, 2014. The political battle for the Congress in its remaining term will now be to prevent an early Lok Sabha election even as the Opposition will press the accelerator and try to pin down the government in the next six months.

Exit of DMK at a time when the UPA is counting each supporting MP on its finger tips, has sent signals to the two most important parties supporting it from outside - Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Obviously, they would be more assertive now as they know that if one of them goes, the government would be reduced to minority.

DMK, with 18 Lok Sabha members, did not withdraw support when CBI was breathing down the neck of its top leaders in the 2G scam and one of its key ministers, A. Raja was languishing in jail and so was the daughter of the party supremo Karunanidhi, Kanimojhi. It withdrew support on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils, an emotive issue in the State which has potential to help the party electorally. Clearly, the DMK does not want to face the polls in Tamil Nadu as an ally of the ruling Congress as it perceives that the law of diminishing returns would apply on its poll prospects.

DMK knows what anti-incumbency did to the party two years ago in 2011 when arch rival Jayalalitha was swept to power in the Assembly polls. It also knows that 9 years of anti-incumbency at the Centre means that Congress more or less has become a liability in Tamil Nadu and it would perhaps be a better idea to fight AIADMK alone with its regional allies rather than with the ruling party at the Centre. Party chief Karunanidhi read the situation, used the Sri Lankan Tamil issue as an excuse and dumped the UPA, leaving it limping for support.

It is no secret that both BSP and the SP are supporting the UPA from outside due to the potential of the CBI to wreck havoc on them in a series of cases registered against Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as BSP chief Mayawati. What surprises me is that none of these cases have come to a close or a verdict announced even after years and years of hearings, affidavits and arguments. The CBI goes slow like a tortoise whenever the situation warrants or tightens the screw whenever these parties and their leaders go truant and make them fall in line. After all, Sanjay Dutt is not the only one who does not want to go to jail.

CBI raids at the residence of Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin soon after the party withdrew support is a clear indication how the agency has been working for a while under the UPA. Almost everyone in the government and the party, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, dissociated themselves from the raids. No one knows the truth in Stalin's case but the past conduct of CBI nevertheless had the fingers pointed at the government.

Even if we do not go deep in the past, the last example of CBI acting against political opponents was in Andhra Pradesh. CBI used its might and discovered that Jagan Mohan Reddy was involved in shady financial deals only when he was no longer a Congress MP and had floated a regional party. As long as he was in the Congress, Jagan Mohan was virtue personified, the moment he left the party, he became a persona non grata, fit for CBI action. Not only the CBI, a host of other central agencies come into picture with all sorts of cases, ensuring that Jagan languishes in jail.

The DMK withdrawal of support has clearly opened windows of opportunity for the SP and BSP. They are the two crutches on which the UPA walks and the moment, even one is removed, the government would fall on its face. They know that CBI cannot be brought in the picture now as withdrawing support would reduce the government to a minority. If the government comes to a minority and the elections announced, no investigating agency would act against them. So the Damocles Sword no longer hanging over their heads, UPA is in too vulnerable a situation at this point and may force it to rethink that advancing polls by a few months could help it forge new alliances and come back with a comfort of numbers, the way it did in 2009.

Like the DMK in Tamil Nadu, for SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, a situation is emerging where he cannot go to the polls in Uttar Pradesh with the baggage of being a Congress supporter. Remember, when SP bailed out the Manmohan Singh government in UPA I on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal and supported it, its tally in the Lok Sabha was drastically reduced in the 2009 polls. It was the Congress which benefited from the misery of the SP, becoming the largest party in terms of seats in the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav's entire politics is based on Congress Opposition and if he is perceived to be close to the party, his support base would shift in no time and Congress is waiting to cash on the opportunity. Aggressive anti-Congress and anti-BJP stance has to be Mulayam's USP again and being a wily politician, I suspect, he would withdraw support keeping an eye on the prospects of SP in the State which sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament.

Yadav had once missed the chair of Prime Minister when United Front was in power and H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujaral became prime ministers in quick succession. This time, he would like to have as many MPs as possible so that he can claim the position as the head of the Third Front or a confederation of regional parties in case there is a fluid political situation and neither NDA nor UPA is in a position to stake claim to form the next government. If SP gets over 50 seats in UP then nothing could be impossible. But for that the party will have to choose the right time to say goodbye to the UPA government and have the polls at a time of its choice.

SP warming up to the BJP, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress warming up to the Congress and the overtures of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar towards the Congress indicate the churning of the political process with the target being the next Lok Sabha polls. The posturing of these parties may have nothing to do with their possible electoral tie-ups but indicate that in politics, positioning before an important election and sending mixed signals does help. (March 25, 2013) 

 http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/cong-stares-at-early-lok-sabha-polls.html

Civil Services Exams: Time for an overhaul

VIEWPOINT 

AMITABH SHUKLA

A well intentioned move to revamp the pattern of civil services examination has been put on hold. Predictably, cutting across party lines, the politicians played spoilsport as the government had to beat a hasty retreat and revert back to the 34-year old pattern of examination in which many loopholes have emerged over the years.

It was the steel frame of the British raj, to some extent it still is in the UPA raj but over a period of time, it has lost some of its sheen. Still, it remains the most coveted job in the government sector. But the examination pattern in practice since 1979 left a lot to be desired and an overhaul was the need of the hour keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, the globalised environment in which the bureaucrats are supposed to work and the flaws which had crept in the existing system. 

The flaws could be several. I will just point out a few. I know of an Electrical Engineer from IIT, who abandoned his subject of graduation (Electrical Engineering) for the Main examination and opted for Sanskrit and Geography. He mugged both the subjects in six months flat and got a decent ranking making it to the IPS. I have nothing against Geography or Sanskrit, but the flaw here was that one could simply mug the syllabus and get through forgetting the basic subject in which you did your graduation. There could be many such cases.

Then when I was studying in Delhi University, I remember students making a beeline for taking Pali language as an Optional to write the main examination. For several years, the subject was considered quite “scoring” and it was believed that if one studied it meticulously for three months, one could get above average marks and make it to the coveted service. The flaw could be detected only later when it was found that a lot of aspirants with Pali language getting in though the language itself was taught in less than half a dozen universities of the country.  

For several years, there was an unusually high percentage of aspirants opting for subjects like Public Administration and Anthropology. Coaching institutes claimed that they will take 2-3 months to make a candidate mug enough to crack the civil services with these optional provided they were good with their primary optional. Ironically, there were a handful of colleges offering these courses at the graduation level but as optional papers in Main examination, there was a time when almost half the candidates chose one of the two subjects.

So flawed was the system for several years that it saw an unusually high percentage of engineers in the civil services. A lot of them opted for Physics which they are taught in their course along with the subject of engineering. So much so that in one year, 19 of the top 20 in the IAS were engineers and in the top 100, over 85 had engineering background. One heard of “moderation” of marks which meant that if aspirants are getting too much marks in a particular subject, the marks were reduced in some proportion. No one knew how it was done and it remained a mystery. All throughout this phase, those from the social sciences found themselves at the receiving end, barely managing to get into the coveted list and eventually when they got through, it was in the Group “B” Services.

When the changes for the Main examination were notified by the government, there were basically two objections. Regional leaders immediately jumped in the fray saying that those from rural background will have a disadvantage as marks in English would be counted and the practice of taking the exams in some the regional languages would be stopped if they had less than 25 candidates.

I would again differ here on making marks in English count in the ranking and this is by personal experience. When I was studying for my post graduation in Delhi University, I remember a brilliant student from Motihari in Bihar who had passed all his exams in Hindi medium and he knew whatever was expected to crack the civil services exam. He cleared the preliminary exams and appeared for the Mains. Later on, instead of the result, a letter came from UPSC that his papers were not evaluated as he could not get pass marks in English. Getting pass marks in English and a regional language was mandatory and only if one passed in these that his other papers were evaluated. After failing in the only attempt, he opted out and instead settled for a job in Bihar through the BPSC. There must have been a lot of such aspirants whose answer sheets could not be evaluated as they could not get pass marks in English.

In the pattern which was announced and now put in abeyance, 100 marks were allocated for English, triggering protests from political quarters. At least, this is better than the system prevalent as even if you get poor marks in the Queen’s language but are good in other subjects, you could get there. And mind, you this is less than 5 per cent of the total marks of 2075 in the exams and the paper is supposed to be of matriculation standard.

I agree with some critics that the medium of examination should not be tampered with and one should be given the opportunity to take the exams in the regional languages of one’s choice till a consensus evolves. Also, the language of essay should be optional and all Indian languages should be included instead of just English and Hindi.

But I fail to understand the knee jerk reaction of the government, keeping in abeyance all proposed changes. It could have easily put on hold the controversial changes like making the marks obtained in English count and proposal which allegedly discriminated against the regional language. But what prevents it from introducing other changes which no one is criticizing like enhancing the importance of General Studies having four papers instead of two earlier and going for only one optional subject instead of two for the Main examination.

Keeping on hold the debatable changes and going for the new pattern should have been the way out. The reform measures which no one is questioning should have been implemented. Ever since the British evolved the civil service, they changed it several times depending on the needs of the raj. It was time, we changed it keeping in view the needs of the new millennium. (March 18, 2013)
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/civil-services-exams-time-for-an-overhaul.html
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/2013-03-18-1327.html

Rahul, the bachelor who doesn’t want the PM’s chair

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

So Rahul Gandhi has sort of decided to remain a bachelor like Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is what he recently indicated saying, “if I get married and have children, then I will become a status quoist and will be concerned about bequeathing my position to my children.”

There could be thousands and millions of bachelors in the country but don’t be surprised at the comparison because both Rahul and Vajpayee are intrinsically connected with politics. For both of them, the bread and butter and their respective career was only politics, nothing else. Though Vajpayee might have retired, but in his heydays, he commanded a large following in his party like Rahul does in his own party now. Also, the comparison is because one became the Prime Minister though after a long waiting period in the opposition benches while the other was born with a silver spoon and has been consistently hailed in his party as “Prime Minister material” and “Prime Minister in-waiting”.

But the similarity between Vajpayee and Rahul ends here as the Congress vice president is also contemplating not to become Prime Minister which Vajpayee eventually became for six years and again wanted to become in 2004 when the BJP lost the polls. “Asking me whether you want to be Prime Minister is a wrong question,” he said on the same day when he spoke about his intentions of not getting married. In fact, Rahul has repeatedly spurned offers from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to join his Cabinet and has never said that becoming the PM was his main objective in politics.

In fact, the role model of Rahul, as he claims, in not nurturing any ambitions for the top political job of the country, is the Father of the Nation-Mahatma Gandhi. But unlike Rahul who does not want to marry, the Mahatma married Kasturba, remained in wedlock for the better part of his life till he became a widower, had children but did not bequeath his position to his children nor did he become the Prime Minister of the country.

No one perhaps seriously asked Vajpayee why he remained a bachelor but by doing so, he did not bequeath his name or status to anyone. It is a different matter that his foster son-in-law was quite influential when he was the Prime Minister of the country. But he has the surname of Bhattacharya and not Vajpayee.

Rahul would turn 43 in another three months. Chroniclers of the family history point out that none in the Nehru-Gandhi family, right from the days of Moti Lal Nehru married so late and there is little chance of the Doon school and St Stephen’s College student and Congress vice president to tie the knot now. Going by the current norms, most of the weddings take place when the bride and groom are in their mid or late 20s and we find rare instances of people marrying in their 40s and 50s unless it is a second or a third marriage for the person concerned. Even his younger sister, Priyanka married almost a decade and half back when she was in her 20s.

But given the fact that Congress is a unique institution of the world, a parallel of which can never be found in modern history, where a dynasty has been running the party for the last almost eight decades, what will happen to the glue which keeps the party together if Rahul does not marry and bequeath his legacy? This is what bothered me last week and I asked a leader of Congress after the statement of Gandhi counting on the virtues of bachelorhood and showing indifference to power. The reply was instant. “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has two children”.

So, if Rahul Gandhi does not marry and have children, he would not have to bother about bequeathing his position to anyone. It will go to the next generation without him even asking for it. Congress leaders and workers would crown one of them given the fact that only a Gandhi can keep the party united. Remember, how a reluctant Sonia Gandhi was made Congress president by the members of Congress Working Committee, several years after the death of her husband Rajeev Gandhi. The answer given by the Congress functionary explained a lot, making me speechless.

Coming back to what the Congress vice president said, perhaps he has read Mahabharat, like most Indians, and is also inspired by Bhishma Pitamah who vowed not to marry but to protect the throne of Hastinapur. Finally, he found himself on the wrong side of virtue as the protector of the wily Kauravas who were out to negate the rightful claims of the Pandavas. Here, Rahul has the Congress to protect as no party leader has known the party without a Gandhi at the helm. Or does the arrangement which the party has presently, which is enjoying power without being responsible for it, suit the style of Rahul.

As far as bachelorhood in politics is concerned, BJP’s yet to be declared PM candidate, Narendra Modi too is a bachelor though some Congress leaders believe otherwise and have often gone to the extent of inventing the name of his wife and even her profession. But one thing is sure, like Gandhi, Modi too apparently believes that marriage and having children makes one status quoist though he has never said so from any forum or even informal discussions. He too does not have children so there is no question of bequeathing his legacy to anyone.

Of course you have some other famous bachelors in Indian politics like Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu who are heading the governments there and Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh who has been in and out of government for the last almost two decades. But none of them are the competitors of Rahul in national politics.

The only serious competition which Rahul faces in 2014 will be from a fellow bachelor Narendra Modi. If Rahul indeed thinks that bachelorhood is a virtue in politics, then obviously Modi too has this virtue. If Congress makes bachelorhood as the basic qualification for prime ministership, Modi will get in while his rivals in BJP would have no chance as most of them, including LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are married. But like Vajpayee, bachelorhood is the only common thing which Modi shares with Rahul. Unlike the Congress vice president, Modi has so far never expressed his abhorrence for the post of Prime Minister. He has been the Chief Minister of Gujarat for over a decade and obviously would want to climb higher in the political journey and considers the desire for prime ministership as legitimate.

So in the run-up to 2014, we may perhaps see a reluctant prime ministerial candidate (Rahul) and a candidate who wants this post (Modi). As both of them are bachelors, none of them have an advantage over each other on that count unless Rahul does a

U-turn in the next 12 months as the campaign for Lok Sabha elections build up. Over to the voters of the country. (March 11, 2013) 

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/132463-rahul-the-bachelor-who-doesnt-want-the-pms-chair.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/132654-rahul-the-bachelor-who-doesnt-want-the-pms-chair.html

Bajwa in, Amarinder shown the door

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Politically suffocated by the Shiromani Akali Dal and consistently on the back-foot, Congress finally found an alibi for successive defeats in Punjab and removed Capt Amarinder Singh from the post of state unit President.

With an aim to make Congress fighting fit for the Lok Sabha elections next year, party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi chose 56-year old Partap Singh Bajwa whose electoral record has been better compared to the 72-year old Capt Amrinder who is on a losing spree ever since the party first lost the 2007 assembly polls and then the 2012 polls which it was widely expected to win. Capt Amarinder was the mascot of the party in both the elections.

The defeat in the Moga by-polls and the accompanying turf war between the state party leaders proved to be the proverbial last straw to break the Camel’s back—the nemesis of the Maharaja of Patiala. Soon after the defeat, he issued notices to some of the MLAs like Brahm Mohindra and Kaka Randeep Singh blaming them for not working for the party candidate in the Moga by-poll. The MLAs retaliated, triggering a full blown war in the state Congress which threatened the façade of unity assiduously built for the by-polls. Senior state Congress leaders rushed to Delhi to appraise the high command that the fratricidal war could have devastating electoral outcome. The high command acted swiftly and Bajwa was appointed with the Captain having no inkling of what was about to happen till the statement issues by AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi in New Delhi.

The countdown for the Captain began soon after the defeat in the Assembly polls in March last year. For the first time in 46 years, an incumbent government won the polls and the blame went to the Captain for his autocratic style, faulty distribution of tickets, two dozen rebels and also underestimating the Manpreet Badal factor. He resigned from his post but was asked to stay put for a while. It took a year for the Congress High command to take a decision which it could have taken just after the defeat in the assembly polls. 

A double whammy awaited the Captain as the Congress badly lost the civic polls in major cities of the state soon after the assembly polls. The cities and urban areas were supposed to be Congress stronghold but here also the BJP and Akali Dal pipped Congress and took away its urban vote base.

Apart from the style of functioning, electoral results too played a role in the removal of the Captain. While Bajwa, the MP from Gurdaspur, managed to get his wife Charanjit Kaur elected in the Assembly polls from Qadian, Amarinder could not ensure the victory of his son from Samana which is part of Patiala, considered for a long time as the pocket borough of the Maharaja. Earlier Raninder had lost from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency in the 2009 polls. The Captain’s brother, Malwinder also parted company on the eve of the 2012 polls, raising doubts about the former Chief Minister’s ability to keep his own family and the party united.

Given the demographic arithmetic in the state, only a Jat Sikh fitted the space of Capt Amarinder at this point and in such circumstances, Bajwa was hardly a surprise. He is relatively young at 56, has been through the thick and thin, was the President of Punjab Youth Congress and comes from a political family of the Majha (border) region of the state.

This is perhaps the end of the political road for the scion of the erstwhile Patiala princely state as the premium is on youth under Rahul Gandhi and the party is unlikely to make him the chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 polls when he would be 76. As his wife, Preneet Kaur is the Patiala MP and Minister of State in the UPA government, it is again unlikely that he would contest 2014 Lok Sabha polls, relinquishing his Patiala Assembly seat. At best, he could hope to become a Governor or an Ambassador, posts given to retired politicians. (March 7, 2013) 

Roadmap 2014 becomes clear

 VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

In the National Council meet of BJP, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the “Night Watchman”, who is only warming the seat for Rahul Gandhi as and when the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty decides to assume office.

Though it is difficult to fathom the logic as no one can actually be the “Night Watchman” for almost nine years, the remark nevertheless triggered uproar as everything related to Modi does, with Congress giving it back to Modi in the same language.

Even as the two parties were targeting each other, the sane counsel of LK Advani got drowned in the cacophony and Modi hype. Now, more or less in the role of a patriarch with Prime Ministerial ambitions behind him, Advani counseled the party to reach out to the allies and the minorities apart from zero tolerance towards corruption. In its enthusiasm to project Modi as the undeclared prime ministerial candidate of the party, BJP leaders of late seem to have forgotten how to reach out to the potential allies, something which Advani has suggested and given a timely reminder. It was the USP of Vajpayee who led a 23-party coalition successfully. As Advani was the Number 2 and the man behind many of those decisions, he knows it better. At this point of time, the allies of BJP could be counted on finger tips and in the past several years, it has got no new entrants except little known Haryana Janhit Congress with one member in the Lok Sabha. Those who have walked out are in double digit.

At a time when the vote share of both Congress and the BJP is more or less stagnant with little or no chance of it going drastically up or down, it is the allies who will matter the most in 2014. Whoever gets the maximum allies and support of the regional parties will have a fair chance of getting its nominee as the Prime Minister. If BJP gets most of the regional players in the NDA fold, it could have Modi or whoever it wants as the PM; if not, Congress would surely have Rahul Gandhi this time given the regional arithmetic it has assiduously worked in the past almost nine years ever since it came to power in the 2004 elections.

In the last quarter of a century, ever since the Mandir issue catapulted the BJP as an alternative power Centre and the Mandal issue paved the way for emergence of powerful OBC satraps in North India, the power has decisively shifted to the regional parties and their chieftains. The two national parties have just become the cementing factor whom these parties support for their own regional aspirations and to get their demands met from the Centre.

Even as the BJP has sounded the poll bugle in its Delhi meeting, it has so far not attempted to get Trinamool Congress, AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal in National Democratic Alliance. All the three parties were crucial for the formation of the Atal Bihari government and provided valuable support as allies. Telugu Desham Party too has so far been out of the NDA scheme of things even though it still has a sizeable following in Andhra Pradesh.

Just consider the fact that on its own, BJP does not matter in any of these States —West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha which are headed by Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha and Naveen Pattnaik. Add Andhra Pradesh to this list and you get four States which together send almost 140 members to the Lok Sabha where BJP hardly has any presence and so far it has failed to stitch an alliance even when the polls are a little over a year away. Perhaps it wants to do well in the northern States and places where it is strong so that the parties who are watching it from a distance could come to it and join the NDA after the results. But this is not as simple unless the groundwork is done before the polls for a pact or the party gets an assurance of support after the polls.

Then there are States like Uttar Pradesh where none of the two main players — SP and BSP — would support the BJP and on its own, the party cannot repeat the magical numbers it got when Vajpayee formed government.

The BJP meeting in New Delhi, which followed the one of Congress in Jaipur, has clearly set the tone of political discourse in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. While Jaipur catapulted Rahul Gandhi practically on the throne as the Number two of the party and the prime ministerial candidate, New Delhi did a similar thing to Narendra Modi. It has paved the way for Modi’s prime ministerial ambitions like never before with no serious challenger emerging so far from the party.

Modi played to the gallery well. In his speech, he hit the Congress hard and pointed how it has become a dynastic party. Already, a lot of the leaders and ministers owe their position to their dynasty and now there are several sons of these leaders and ministers who are set to make a political debut. This includes sons of AICC General Secretaries Oscar Fernandes, Digvijay Singh and Janardan Dwivedi. Also the sons of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh are set to follow the footsteps of their father anytime now.

Opposition to dynastic politics could perhaps be the USP of BJP in the run up to the elections as so far the party hardly has any leader whose son or daughter is in serious politics.

Corruption could be another issue which the BJP would hope to bank on with something or the other tumbling out of the cupboard of UPA Government every now or then. But it depends on the Congress how well it defends its scams and on the BJP on how it finds chinks in the armour of the ruling party.

But these are macro issues which are crucial, but not all important when a person goes out to cast his vote. His or her regional aspirations, local issues and factors too count a lot and it is here-in the management of the micro issues where the BJP has found to be lacking.

Getting allies on board on a consistent basis in the run-up to the polls is micro poll management and the BJP will have to show its skills here. Congress has an advantage as apart from the Trinamool Congress it has consistent allies who have been through thick and thin.

It will be Micro poll management which holds the keys for the prime ministerial chair in 2014 as both Congress and BJP are evenly matched so far in the Macro issues on which polls are generally fought. (March 4, 2013)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/130887-roadmap-2014-becomes-clear.html

 http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/130976-roadmap-2014-becomes-clear.html

SAD humbles Congress in Moga

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

It has been a prolonged victory spree for the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab with the party crushing the Congress in the Moga by-election reaffirming its credentials as an election winning juggernaut.

The victory by a margin of 18,849 votes is all the more sweeter for SAD as the entire state Congress leadership practically camped in Moga during campaign and the party was banking on a favourable result for its revival in the State before the Lok Sabha elections next year. Congress also pitched Moga as a referendum on the policies of the year-old State government in the second term.

As the victorious Akali candidate, Joginder Pal Jain, was elected on a Congerss ticket in the 2012 polls, had resigned his seat, joined the ruling SAD and contested again, the results could motivate others and hasten the exodus of Congress leaders towards the ruling party in the State. This could further demoralise Congress cadres and PCC president Capt Amarinder Singh could see a renewed and strong challenge to his position, already weakened after successive defeats.

Moga follows the victory of the Akali Dal in the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee polls earlier this year. In March 2012, the SAD-BJP alliance had created history by becoming the first incumbent government to win an Assembly election in Punjab in 44 years.

While Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal led from the front, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal proved to be the guiding force and a reassurance for the voters that their interests would be safe in the hands of the 85-year veteran of many a political battle.

“It is a forceful mandate for the agenda of peace, development and communal harmony, and a victory of clean politics over negative tactics such as mudslinging, character assassination and issue-less policies. The problem with the Congress is that it has no agenda except Akali bashing,” the Chief Minister said after the victory.

A defensive Capt Amarinder took the line which defeated parties often do alleging that “the verdict was manipulated and manufactured by the Akalis by blatant abuse of money, muscle, police and official power.” He maintained that “the outcome of the by-election is no reflector of the popularity of the government.”

Being credited with the induction of Jain and the victory, Sukhbir remained humble terming the bye election as a “referendum on the progressive policies of SAD-BJP alliance.” He saw the result as a “farewell chapter” in the electoral history of Congress and as a warm-up exercise for Akali cadre and trailer for 2014 Lok Sabha election.

So strong was the Akali wave that the label of “turncoat” on Jain for being a party hopper and ditching the voters within a year of being elected, failed to stick as he won by a bigger margin than 2012. Congress plank of law and order collapsed as the plank of development of the Akalis got the approval in both urban as well as rural areas of the constituency.

With the victory, the strength of the Akali Dal has gone up to 57 in the 117-member House. It also enjoys the support of two Independent MLAs in a House where the halfway mark is 59. Its long term ally, BJP has 12 members. (March 1, 2013)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/130336-sad-humbles-congress-in-moga.html