Skip to main content

People’s concerns in Punjab are not so called security threat to leaders but those of governance

 

 

People’s concerns in Punjab are not so called security threat to leaders but governance


Ground Zero

 

Nothing suits Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh better than his long time detractor in his own party Partap Singh Bajwa prioritising his so called personal security issues over that  of governance in the ongoing tussle between the two.

The security threat to leaders in Punjab from top to bottom is more of a bogey. Raising this bogey from time to time facilitates the security forces from getting more funds. This should be  reduced to half beginning with the top in a single stroke.

Even small time political leaders-dealers in Punjab enjoy security cover that is more of a status symbol. The strength of security to a leader is now also measured by the level of  security umbrella.

Partap Singh Bajwa is a Rajya Sabha member. He was replaced as the state Congress chief by Capt Amarinder Singh before the 2017 Lok Sabha elections.

Punjab is witnessing running debate between the two leaders over the security detail of Bajwa that had been triggered by spurious liquor deaths.

The basic issue has been governance. Capt Amarinder Singh out-sourced governance from day one. At times even state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar felt hurt and humiliated.

The latest case is that of the ministers protesting against then chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh who was about to retire. Capt Amarinder Singh rather suitably accommodated him. Retired bureaucrats have been given the jobs that should have  gone to the political leaders.

Here is the government that is characterised transparent corruption.

The ironic part is there is virtually no opposition in the state. The Shiromani Akali Dal is finally making efforts to revive itself but the concerns of its leadership are different and not pro-people. Farmers are protesting at their own. Aam Aadmi Party that had been given the mandate by the people to function as the main opposition disintegrated within months.

Punjab is one state where space exists for another alternative. It has been so since 2012. The people talk about this situation all the more now. The people continue to be let down by the political class.

It seemed that finally, the opposition was emerging from within the Congress. However, the debate has been diverted to security issues.

Punjab represents a strange situation.

Capt Amarinder Singh’s government might be outsourced one in which there is little involvement of the Congress. At the political level, however, there is no challenge to him going by the results of Lok Sabha elections and all the Assembly bye-elections. The Congress under his command continues to get the mandate of the people.

At the same time, it can be said that Punjab was one state that could have facilitated the return of the Congress at the national level by providing better governance. Presently, this is the most stable government of the Congress in the country despite Bajwa supported by another leader Shamsher Singh Dullo trying to challenge Capt Amarinder Singh. Dullo too is a Rajya Sabha member and a former PPCC chief.

Basic to the discourse is the issues that concern the people.

The mafia in every trade has only survived.

Now a district judge has given the report that extortion by the mining mafia continues. This report is the most damning indictment of the state government at one level.

The government went into action only when 118 people were killed recently due to spurious liquor. Capt Amarinder Singh had promised to introduce new excise policy.

The situation in Punjab calls for total overhaul. A recent study had pointed out that the bureaucracy in Punjab is amongst the most corrupt in the country. The corrupt bureaucracy also suits the political class, irrespective of the party.

Punjab is different from Rajasthan as there is no other centre of power. Bajwa and Dullo at best can only be dissenters. They too have a role to play by way of shaking up the political system in the state.

Can the people expect a change in the situation?

Punjab needs a strong opposition to function as a check on the government to bring about a change.

 

 
 

Comments

  1. Write-up is a good pointer. Rightly, to ensure good governance, Punjab needs a strong opposition

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sinister and deep design to divide Sikhs and Hindus in Canada needs to be exposed

  Sinister and deep design to divide Sikhs and Hindus in Canada needs to be exposed Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh: Let us decode deeper design in what apparently seems to be deliberate distortion of facts in case of the so-called Sikh-Hindu clash in Canada to project it as confrontation between the two communities. The Indian media and the establishment gave it out as a communal conflict and attack on a Mandir, the Hindu place of worship. Let us first put the matter straight from the evidence available in the form of videos relating to every dimension of this narrative and the statements. It was neither a Sikh-Hindu clash nor an attack on the Hindu temple per se. It was a protest by the SFJ activists against the Indian consulate organizing a camp there. Such protests have been held against the consulate outside the gurdwaras too as per the record. The saner statement issued by the Hindu Federation of November 4 is very important in the interpretation of this narra...

History seems to be ominously repeating itself to drive Punjab into religio-political minefield again

  History ominously repeating itself to drive Punjab into religio-political minefield again Ground Zero Jagtar Singh This headline is not rooted in some sort of pessimism. The signals are loud and clear. The onus to counter such signals is on the Punjab government. History in Punjab seems to be repeating itself to push Punjab into yet another cycle of what can be termed as the avoidable toxic situation. That cycle has now impacted even geo-political relations of India with some countries, especially Canada where the Sikhs are settled in sizeable numbers. In the context of the Sikhs as a globalized people, it is pertinent to mention that even in United Kingdom House of Commons, the representation of the Sikhs is now in double digit after the recent elections. Punjab is still impacted by the tremors of religio-political   dynamics that got triggered in 1978 with the Sikh-Nirankari clash on the Baisakhi on April 13 at Amritsar, the religious capital of the Sikhs. ...

Two binaries emerging in Punjab’s multi-polar polls where last 72 hours are always crucial

  Two binaries emerging in Punjab’s multi-polar polls where last 72 hours are always crucial   Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, May 28: The inter-play of socio-political forces in Punjab in the run up to the June 1 Lok Sabha elections is unprecedented. This is besides that established fact that the religio-political dynamics of this state has always been different from the rest of India, even when the boundaries of this country touched the Khyber Pass connecting with Afghanistan. It is for the first time that so many main political players are in the fray independently thereby making the contest multi-polar. Then there are two other eruptions in the electoral matrix making the multi-polar contest all the more interesting, and also important for future dynamics of not only Punjab but also India as the roots of this phenomena are not in too distant a past but in not so recent period of militancy. It is after decades that Punjab is going to the polls without a...