Divided Punjab Oppn is good news for Congress

Chandigarh: Ahead of the parliamentary elections, it seems to be advantage Congress in Punjab, with the newly formed Akali Dal front thinking to contest elections and the AAP which had won four parliamentary elections last time is in the grip of severe infighting. The new dynamics in the state is good news for Congress as division in Opposition votes results in political dividends for the party.

Expelled from the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) recently, three Akali leaders from Majha region — Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, MP, former MP Rattan Singh Ajnala and former state Cabinet minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, announced the formation of Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). The term Taksali refers to old guard Akali leaders.

Brahmpura was appointed first president of the party that has been formed to revive Shiromani Akali Dal, originally founded in 1920. His name was proposed by Sewa Singh Sekhwan.

Whether this new political front can make a mark in the electoral politics remains to be seen but their very conception brings into focus certain pertinent questions and issues related to Punjab. This new political front has been accusing the Congress and the SAD (Badal) of indulging in a friendly match. The very first question that raises its head is that there is space for a third force in the state where the political turf has been dominated by the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) for the last several decades.

The people are still looking for a third choice. This needs to be looked at in the context of the AAP debacle in the last Assembly polls and its subsequent downslide. The AAP had stunned everyone by winning four of the 13 Lok Sabha seats amidst a Modi wave in 2014. However, its leaders got overambitious. Falling in the trap of Panthic politics, they started hobnobbing with the hardline elements. The tide started turning in favour of the Congress with people once again looking up to Captain Amarinder Singh-led government.

The second obvious question is that why there is a need for a political alternative and that too a Panthic one? As Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh points out, “It is clear that the Badals (former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy and son Sukhbir Singh Badal) have ditched the Panth. There is a vacuum and political space available. A party with Panthic credentials should fulfill this space.”

With both the SAD (B) and AAP facing severe infighting, one thing is quite clear. The new Akali front would be the most damaging to the SAD (Badal)-BJP combine as their main aim is to demolish the control of Badals over institutions like the SGPC and Akal Takht. Both of them are taking on the Badals for the episode of granting mercy to Baba Ram Rahim and then withdrawing it.

Their discourse is centred on the instances of sacrilege of holy texts and the police action against peaceful protesters.