Pressure on Badal for an encore
By A. S. Prashar

PUNJAB goes to the polls once again on Sunday to elect its representatives to the Lok Sabha from 13 parliamentary constituencies. Thanks to the instability at the Centre and the turbulent nature of politics that has come to be pursued by all political parties, this is the third time in as many years that the elections are taking place to the Lok Sabha. It is also perhaps a sign of the changing times that none of the political parties are confident of contesting and winning the elections on their own. All of them have forged alliances with other parties to improve their electoral prospects. The SAD-BJP combine has allied with the Bahujan Samaj Morcha of Satnam Singh Kainth, a one-time protege of the BSP supremo, Kanshi Ram, who has floated his own outfit. The Congress has aligned with the CPI and CPM, while a Third Front consisting of the SHSAD headed by Gurcharan Singh Tohra and different Akali splinter groups headed by Kuldip Singh Wadala, Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode and Simranjit Singh Mann have aligned with the BSP.

In the last elections held in February, 1998, the ruling SAD-BJP alliance swept all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab along with its electoral ally, the Bahujan Samaj Morcha. The Congress and its allies, the BSP and the CPI, drew a blank. Simranjit Singh Mann, who represented the "third force", too, had to eat the humble pie. This time both of them hope to turn in a much better performance for a variety of reasons.

The ruling SAD-BJP combine leader, Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, who is also the president of SAD, is no longer the formidable force he was till last year. A series of developments, including the split in the Akali Dal with the Akali stalwart, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, floating his own political party have weakened SAD and taken some shine off Badal’s leadership. The Akalis draw their strength from gurdwaras and the SGPC. But the no-holds-barred struggle between Badal and Tohra which led to the ouster of Bhai Ranjit Singh as jathedar of Akal Takht and that of Tohra from the presidentship of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has brought into full public view the cynical use of religion and holy shrines in ruthless pursuit of power.

The birth of the "Third Front" in Punjab has turned contests in all the 13 Lok Sabha seats into triangular fights, the other two players being the SAD-BJP-BSM and the Congress-CPI-CPM. SAD has put up its nominees in nine constituencies and left three for the BJP and one for the BSM. The Congress is contesting 11 seats, leaving one each to the CPI and the CPM. The SHSAD has put its candidates for seven seats leaving three for the BSP, one for Simranjit Singh Mann, one for Kuldip Singh Wadala and one for the Rode family, which has put up Capt Harcharan Singh Rode, a brother of the late Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

The Akali candidates include the Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Surjit Singh Barnala, and the Minister of State for Industries, Sukhbir Singh, who is also the son of the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. The BJP candidates include film star Vinod Khanna and the Punjab BJP chief, Daya Singh Sodhi. The Congress nominees include the former Minister for External Affairs, Raghunandanlal Bhatia, a former Minister for Tourism, Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, and Parneet Kaur, wife of the Punjab PCC chief, Capt Amarinder Singh. The Third Front candidates include Prem Singh Chandumajra, former general secretary of SAD, Gurdarshan Singh Grewal, former Advocate-General of Punjab, Simranjit Singh Mann, Kuldip Singh Wadala and Capt Harcharan Singh Rode.

All the major outfits have left no stone unturned to woo the voters. The ruling SAD-BJP combine has brought in the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, while the Congress has predictably inducted its star performer, Sonia Gandhi. Vajpayee has made two visits to Punjab while Mrs Gandhi has toured the state thrice. The Third Front besides Tohra, is utilising the services of the fire-brand Bhai Ranjit Singh, former jathedar of Akal Takht.

However, the SAD-BJP was initially hoping to cash in on the popularity of Atal Behari Vajpayee in the wake of the Kargil victory. It has had a few nasty surprises since then. Its poll managers have discovered that neither Vajpayee nor the Kargil victory are strong enough factors to tilt the voters in their favour. The split in SAD has divided the Sikh vote. The SAD-BJP combine is now banking on the Hindu vote. "We are looking for a just five to 10 per cent swing among the Hindus in our favour. This is enough for us to sail through...", says an Akali leader.

But that may be easier said that done. The urban voter is also not going exactly ga-ga over the performance of the Badal government. Apart from the split in SAD, the performance, or rather the lack of it, has caused dissatisfaction among the people, both in villages as well as towns and cities. The Badal government, soon after it assumed office in Chandigarh in February, 1997, announced free power supply to the agricultural sector in fulfilment of its poll promise. This together with free water supply to the farmers has now become a big drain on the resources of the state exchequer.

Incidentally, the free power and water supply to the rural sector has not exactly pleased the farmers. They complain that they hardly get any electricity. Therefore, whether or not it is free, it is immaterial. "We will prefer to pay for power if the government can ensure regular, round-the-clock supply", is the general refrain of the farming community.

This big concession to the rural sector has created a backlash in the cities. The urbanites feel that the industry, trade and commerce in the cities are being used by the government for cross-subsidisation of the farm sector. And in any case, there is nothing free in this world. If the rural sector does not pay, the urban sector will have to pay for it. This alone explains a whole of series of taxation measures which were announced by the government earlier this year in a bid to mobilise resources. And on almost all of them, the government had to beat an ignominous retreat because of strikes, agitations, dharnas and demonstrations in the cities.

Another issue which seems to be agitating the voter is corruption in government offices. After making brave announcements about rooting out the malady, the government appears to have given in rather tamely on this sensitive issue. The "Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award" scheme for giving cash rewards to those who exposed corrupt practices has been given a quiet burial. However, the Chief Minister maintains that the institution of Lok Pal which can be approached by anyone with documentary proof of wrongdoing is available to all.

Interestingly, the lure of power has created divisions in all political parties. As one political observer put it, the malady of dissidence and rebels was earlier confined to the Congress alone because only this party tasted the fruits of power for decades after the Independence. Now that almost every political party has tasted it, either singly or in coalition with partners, the disease has infected all. Even a so-called disciplined party like the BJP faced a revolt-like situation in Amritsar and Ludhiana over the choice of nominees. The State BJP chief, Daya Singh Sodhi, became the target of poster war in Amritsar and a truce was enforced after great difficulty.

But this is the dynamics of power politics. And this is just what makes democracy the best form of governance in the world.