The challenge before Akalis 

It is rare for the second generation of leadership to emerge and get a free hand as the Akalis under Sukhbir Badal has done. Now it is up to it to decide if it would like to replay the game of vendetta or work for making some difference to the lives of the people by the use of modern tools that they possess. After all, the mandate that they have is for five years and then they have to face the people as Amarinder Singh and before him Badal did. 

by Harbans Singh 

Now that the Akali Dal-BJP alliance government has settled down, it is time to take stock of the challenges before it. It would do some good to itself and the people of Punjab by remembering that the mandate given to them by the people is only for five years and that at the end of that period they have to go back to the people. When they do that they will find as many before them have found that five years is too short a period and that probably they should have used this short period in a more meaningful manner. 

It is from this point of view that one finds it disappointing that the Government seems to be more focused on fixing the leaders and their minions of the previous government. Apparently the Akalis more than the BJP has refused to learn from history for there are numerous examples that demonstrate the futility of launching a witch hunt. It had begun in 1977 when the first non-Congress government was formed at the centre and a number of States. Shah Commission at the centre and numerous commissions in the States had only helped Congress make a quick recovery. Even Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal owes his comeback to the ill advised move to put him, his spouse and his son behind bars. 

However, it is getting clear that the Badals, like the Bourbons have forgotten nothing and forgiven nothing. The hurt of those days is understandable but it must be remembered that in any democracy political parties are voted in and out of power on strength of what they offer to the people by way of future and that people vote them not for settling their personal scores but for collective good.It is true that the Chief Minister is professing his innocence regarding cases that are being instituted against people who were in Captain Amarinder Singh’s government or were close to it, but every body knows that nothing happens in a state without the concurrence and knowledge of a Chief Minister.  

The obsession with the past is all the more regrettable as for the first time the Akalis seem to be coming out of their traditional mindset and presenting a forward looking face. The era of the Jathedars seems to be over and the party has realized that the voter profile has changed all over the state and that there has to be a leadership that reflects the aspiration of the voters. The massive defeat of the Congress in the urban and semi urban areas has clearly demonstrated the concern of the voters. The Akali leaders too have recognized and have therefore allowed the mantle of leadership to pass on to the second generation leadership led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. This is also reflected in the constitution of the cabinet which has a fair number of educated and modern looking leaders who are not averse to the new tools of administration and idiom. It is in this light that the first few weeks of the new government are disappointing. 

If the pool of talent that the Akalis possess were to focus on the real challenge at hand and work for an election that would be due in another five years’ time they will find that the task ahead is really cut for them. When the Akalis were booted out in 2002, the Congress had accused it of doing nothing in building infrastructure for the power sector and thereby depriving the state of a platform to move ahead. Today the same accusation has been repeated by the Akalis and the voters have expressed their concurrence. This also means that if the Akalis wish to beat the anti-incumbency factor then they have to start working in this sector. 

It is also obvious that unless assured and quality power is made available to state there is no possibility of making any headway. The much talked about second revolution in the agriculture will remain a topic of discussions at the seminars unless power is made available for setting up of a chain of cold stores not only for the products to be transported to distant places but also for encouraging the setting up of agro processing units. It is futile to ask the farmer to produce something which does not have an assured market and which does not give him remunerative prices. Those who are talking of changing the face of Punjab need to remember that the infrastructure has to precede growth. 

The genius of Punjabis has often been expressed in industry but now with global challenges and opportunities the right kind of work culture and environment has to be created. Probably Special Economic Zones, though smaller in size and free of the frills that the more ambitious SEZs offer, are the answer. This also means that instead promoting Amritsar district as a SEZ, these should be spread all over the state. 

The Chief Minister would remember that it was during his earlier tenure efforts were made to revamp education and health sector. Ten years down the line both have failed to yield results and it should cause serious concern. Both these vital sectors have been victims of cosmetic changes while the real beneficiary has been the private sector to the detriment of the common man. 

The recently concluded elections have demonstrated that the urban concerns are no longer confined to places that fit into the traditional definition of a town. Most of the urban facilities are available even in the villages and there lapses of the government in that sector affect the voter living in the villages. Thus rising price of the cooking gas and its shortage has a negative fall out all over the state. Today when the Akalis say that they represent the interest of rural Punjab then they also need to redefine rural Punjab and the interests therein. 

It is in the face of these challenges that Akalis need to rethink their agenda. Vendetta can give them some primal satisfaction but at the end of the mandated five year term they will be looking down the barrel of disaffection and failed aspirations. The second generation would especially disappointed as it is rare for it to get such a chance as they have today. The battle against anti-incumbency begins now and not when the Election Commission has announced the next dates of election.

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