Shiromani Akali Dal identified with rural areas for years is only party directly impacted by farm struggle
Impact of
return of victors from Delhi on Punjab polls to be visible in coming days
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
The impact
of the return of the victors from Delhi on the political discourse in Punjab is
likely to start emerging in the coming days as the campaign for February 2022
Assembly polls picks up momentum.
The only
major party in Punjab that directly felt
the impact of the farmers struggle at
the early stage itself is the Shiromani Akali Dal, the party that used to be the most entrenched
in the peasantry and would be identified as the articulator of the concerns
mainly of the rural Punjab. The Shiromani Akali Dal has been representing the Panth
and the peasantry and it was perhaps this very reason that it felt the impact the
most.
The Akali
Dal broke its about a quarter century old alliance with the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party within days of the adoption of the three farm bills in September
2020 that now stands withdrawn under intense pressure from the longest ever and
the most peaceful struggle commanded by the Punjab farmers that turned
pan-India over the period. Akali Dal representative in the Narendra Modi
cabinet Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from her office the very day these bills
were adopted with voice vote in the Lok Sabha without any discussion.
The BJP does
not matter much in Punjab at its own.
This
situation dictated another qualitative shift as the Akali Dal replaced the BJP
with the Bahujan Samaj Party as its alliance partner.
The Akali
Dal subsequently extended consistent logistical support to the farmers struggle
the way the Akali agitations used to be conducted. Langar by the Sikh
institutions has been among the most strategic support to sustain this struggle.
Interestingly,
as the Fateh March began from Delhi to Punjab today, the most visible signs
were the Sikh symbols that otherwise dominate the Akali political culture.
Of course,
the Akali Dal miscalculated at the very first stage when these bills were
promulgated through ordinance but all along, efforts have been to make up for
that.
The Congress
that is the ruling party in Punjab had no option but to oppose these bills as
per the political culture despite the fact that this party too subscribes to
the free market model in which these laws were rooted.
AAP government
in Delhi notified one of the farm laws although it extended support to the
farmers agitation. This party had replaced the Akali Dal as the main opposition
in 2017 but nine of its 20 MLA subsequently defected.
Punjab polls
would witness four stakeholders competing for political power in 2022 polls. Interestingly,
Capt Amarinder Singh is the only leader who had his support base among the
farmers in the state but that was not due to his being a Congress leader. However,
now that he is former chief minister, he might not succeed in retaining his
personal support base, mainly because of strong anti-incumbency. The Congress has
its own support base of course.
Moreover, he
has decided to join hands with the BJP, the party whose action triggered this
agitation. The unprecedented victory has come at a heavy cost as more than 700
farmers have lost their lives ever since this agitation started, majority being
from Punjab. Despite the BJP winning over some Sikh faces like former Akali Dal
leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the farmers are least inclined to favour the BJP
at the hustings. In neighbouring Haryana, the BJP government has registered
cases about 48,000 farmers.
Punjab
witnessed as another major shake up in the political discourse. For the first
time, the chief minister is a Sikh from the marginalised section and not from
the dominant social architecture.
The AAP is
still to come up with a face to command its electoral battle. Party chief
Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced that the party face would be a Sikh.
The Congress
choice of the chief minister, however, have upset all the calculations.
It is to be
seen as to how the electoral discourse now shapes up after Punjab has scored a
major victory although the struggle had turned all India.
Dilli Fateh is
the slogan that today was the most visible as the victors started their march
back to Punjab, Haryana and other states.
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