Chandigarh, January 21
Life has seemingly slowed down in the Punjab Secretariat for the past some days. No usual hustle and bustle associated with a popular government is visible there these days. Political activity has almost come to a standstill in the corridors of power. “Obviously, it’s time to relax and perhaps yawn freely for many of us in the Secretariat,” said a middle-rung official.

The reason: Along with most of the Akali ministers, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal are concentrating on the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections, the polling for which will be held on January 27. Even most of the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and anybody else, who is somebody in the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), have been camping in New Delhi to do their bit in the elections.

Parkash Singh Badal never conceals the fact that he is very fond of campaigning in elections. He prefers to move about among people than sitting in his office. Immediately after the Delhi gurdwara elections, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister will move to Moga where Assembly bypoll is scheduled to be held next month. In a way, the Badals will remain occupied with election-related activity till around last week of the next month.

Obviously, functioning of the official machinery will be a major casualty of this election activity. Lethargy becomes a hallmark of the entire administrative system when the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister move away from the seat of governance. Even the presence of officials in offices becomes scanty. In fact, the system of governance has become so centralised over the years that nothing moves much in the absence of the Chief Minister and in the present case, the Deputy Chief Minister is also not here.

This is perhaps first time that the Badals, who are keen to have their say in New Delhi’s politics, have put so much at stake in the Delhi gurdwara elections.

In fact, this is a political battle between the Badals and the Sarna brothers, who are apparently close to the Congress leadership in Delhi.

By making their presence felt in the Delhi gurdwara elections, Badals can 
have a better bargain with the BJP leadership during the next Lok Sabha 
elections due to be held next year.

The Moga bypoll is equally important for the Badals. They have made Joginder Jain, who recently joined the SAD after resigning as a Congress MLA, the official candidate of their party.