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Revolutionary yellow high tide takes over Punjab to drive Mann to shape up new future

 


Punjab on yellow high tide of optimism as Bhagwant Mann takes over as Aam Aadmi Chief Minister

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

Bhagwant Singh Mann today took over as the Aam Aadmi chief minister of Punjab in the backdrop of high tide of rare optimism after decimating what was perceived to be the well-entrenched political elite in this border state whose electoral dynamics was associated with wheat-paddy rotation.

It is for the first time that Punjab has diversified and that too with such vigour.

It was the first time that after having been sworn in, that a chief minister raised the slogan of Inquilab Zindabad associated with Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his associate revolutionaries.

Bhagat Singh, in one of his writings, has explained the meaning of Inquilab Zindabad whose English version is Log Live Revolution. This slogan is rooted in pro-people ideology.

Yellow colour too is associated with revolutionaries although Bhagat Singh himself used to wear white turban which was the common practice in that region that now is in Pakistan.

This is major departure from the past since 1947.

Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh who was born in Lyallpur district where the family had later shifted, today turned into sea of yellow turbans and dupattas.

The message that emanated from Khatkar Kalan was that Punjab was changing, at least going by the optics.

When Parkash Singh Badal took over as the chief minister at the Punjab cricket association stadium in Mohali in 1997 riding on the wave of a massive mandate of 93 seats to the Akali Dal-BJP alliance, the expectations were high. The colour that dominated the stadium at that time was the traditional blue of the Akalis. Punjab had come out of a long shadow of militancy and brutal state repression.

However, Badal failed to come up to the expectations of the people within two years as his government failed even to take off.

Now Punjab has given similar mandate to the Aam Aadmi Party that had emerged out of the anti-corruption movement in 2012. It is for the first time that this party has been entrusted with this responsibility in a state as Delhi is a semi-state where it is already in power.

Punjab is the right platform for the party to expand its footprint and pose an alternative to the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

AAP has now started its journey to replace the Congress in the opposition space as this party continues to shrink.

Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab would have to present itself as a model state in the next few months to facilitate the expansion of AAP in neghbouring Himachal Pradesh going to election by year end. The other state that AAP is eyeing is Gujarat whose now forgotten development model was propagated  as  game-changing.

Punjab is a scenario different from other states, like its political dynamics.

One would come across the most modern houses in the country side but that village might be lacking in basic facility of good quality drinking water. This is just one example.

Punjab is a high consumption state by the state government is “poor”.

Punjab needs a major push at empowerment of people by boosting its economy. This is a long term processing but it is the sincere beginning that is important.

Both the Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the Congress during their respective rule turned Punjab into a mafia state.

A leader new in the field can always be expected to come up with out of the box ideas rather than the routine that this state has been experiencing.

It is time to induct professionals rather than continuing dependence on bureaucracy that lacks in modern ideas and idiom.

Yellow is associated with revolutionaries and hence change. Mann has to implement the dream of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in his own state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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