Skip to main content

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the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party within days of the adoption of the three farm bills in September 2020 that now stands withdrawn under intense pressure from the longest ever and the most peaceful struggle commanded by the Punjab farmers that turned pan-India over the period.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.

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Damage to institution of Akal Takht symbolising Sikh sovereignty more important dimension of current crisis in Sikh domain

  Ideological Damage to Akal Takht most important dimension of Akali Crisis Ground Zero By Jagtar Singh The Sikh religio-political discourse entered a new phase on Baisakhi 2025 — the historic day on which Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699, created the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, completing the ideological foundation laid by Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith. Significant developments emerged from the well-attended Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) conference held at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib on April 13. It was the first major public appearance of Sukhbir Singh Badal since his re-election as party president on April 12, marking his return to the helm after a brief interregnum. Sukhbir, who first succeeded his father, Parkash Singh Badal, as party president in 2008, resumes leadership of a party long dominated by the Badal family—an influence that has spanned over three decades, the longest in the SAD’s history. For months, the religio-political landscape of Punjab has remained i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse

  Akal Takht intervenes to reset Sikh religio-political discourse Ground Zero Jagtar Singh Chandigarh, Dec 8: The Sikh religio-political domain has the tendency to dictate religio-political discourse of Punjab whose polity is different from other regions in the country. This is the state where a national dynamic minority is in majority. This minority was the third entity in all the political negotiations leading to India’s independence. What happened in Punjab on December 2 has to be reviewed in this backdrop as this development is going to have far-reaching impact not only on the future of the Shiromani Akali Dal but also the political tendencies at several levels. It is pertinent to mention at this stage itself that the Sikh religio-political discourse is presently affecting even India’s geo-politics, especially in the American sub-continent in the context of the activities of a section of the Sikh Diaspora. December 2 was unprecedented in the history of more than a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Killing of Sidhu Moosewala is chilling reminder that all is not well with Punjab but not the time to indulge in blame game

  Something continues to be wrong with Punjab going by killing of Sidhu Moosewala Ground Zero Jagtar Singh   The killing of  Punjabi pop star Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu popular as Sidhu Moosewala is more than shocking. It has not only numbed Punjab but has triggered shock waves across the seas. The only inference that can be drawn from this tragic end of a young icon is that something is not right with Punjab, despite illusion created by degenerated political elite of so called normalcy. It is the system that has to return to normalcy. It has not. The unabated degeneration in the system at times tend to play havoc. This is not the time to play blame game. Rather this is the time to rise above parochial political interests. Punjab needs consensus to facilitate the return of this historically disturbed state and the injured psyche to return to normalcy. And it is not an easy task. What Punjab lacks at this juncture is a role model. After all, Punjab is not a state like any other...
Post a Comment
Read more