THE LONELINESS OF SUKHBIR BADAL

THE BADALS DEVIATED FROM THE CORE ISSUES OF SIKHS, HENCE THE CRISIS OF CREDIBILITY IN THE AKALI DAL

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

The Aam Aadmi Party’s euphoric arrival to dominance made it the cynosure of all eyes in Punjab, but it also diverted attention from a curious void the election results had left in their wake. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has been at the very fulcrum of Punjab’s polity for all of its century-plus existence, and its wipeout is more than just a loss. It managed just three MLAs in the 117-seat assembly—its worst-ever electoral performance since 1967, the first polls after modern-day Punjab was carved out on linguistic lines. In a way, it’s a tectonic shift, bestowing an unpredictable set of dynamics for all of Punjab—not the least for, and not only for, the Akalis.

That this has happened under Sukhbir Badal’s helmsmanship brings the most urgent questions for SAD. Sukhbir himself lost from Jalalabad by almost 31,000 votes. Indeed, it seems the Badal surname—even any proximity to it—had become anathema to the people by association. Even Parkash Singh Badal, the 94-year-old family patriarch, five-time CM and Sukhbir’s father, couldn’t hold up against a deluge of voter anger that left no chance for nostalgia, getting washed away along with Sukhbir’s brothers-in-law Adesh Pratap Kairon and Bikram Majithia, cousin Manpreet Badal (who contested as a Congressman) et al. The only survivor—from Majitha, in Majha region—was Ganieve Kaur Majithia, Bikram’s wife. The Akalis lost most of their seats in the core Malwa, Phulkian and upper Malwa regions, that too by big margins.

Question is, will this punitive vote make the Akalis irrelevant in its bread-and-butter politics revolving around panthic (devout Sikh) affairs? Traditionally, the Akalis, as a party of the dominant Jat Sikhs, have served up a fare of