Veteran Punjab leader Prakash Singh Badal is no more; End of an era
With the departure of veteran Akali leader and five times Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal comes an end to an era of turbulent Punjab politics post-independence. He was part of the trioka in Akali politics of the state during last 60 years, others being Harcharan Singh Longowal and Surjeet Singh Barnala. The 95-year-old Akali leader Badal was suffering from various health problems for the last several years and was admitted to a local private hospital here last week. He breathed his last on Tuesday late evening, leaving behind his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, daughter Parneet Kaur Kairon and nephew Manpreet Badal, a Congress leader.
Although an agriculturist from a village near Malout in South-West Punjab, Badal entered politics in the 1960s under the tutelage of Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Sant Fateh Singh when an agitation for separate Punjabi speaking state was at its peak. Although the agitation for separate Punjabi state was led by Sikh leader Sant Fateh Singh, the political wing of Gurudwara politics was controlled by Tohra, Longowal, Barnala and Badal until the formation of current Punjab state by dividing the earlier bigger state into two parts Punjab, Haryana and ceding part of the hilly areas, namely, Kangra, Una and Shimla to Himachal Pradesh.
With the departure of 95-year-old patron of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an era comes to an end when Akali Dal is devoid of a taller political leadership, except his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also served a term as Dy. CM under his father and is currently a member of Parliament from Ferozepur. Badals have a sizeable following among rural electorate, though it could win only 3 seats out of 117 in the Assembly elections in 2022, when Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party swept with 92 seats. Congress had won 18 seats and BJP 2 in the last year state polls.
Badal was the youngest CM of the state at 43, when he replaced Surjit Singh Barnala as Party leader in 1971, who was later appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu. He was a moderate face of Akali politics forming alliance with Bhartiya Janata Party to form an alliance for peace in Punjab and replace Congress as top political outfit. He was also the oldest CM of the state at 89 in 2017, when his party lost the largest party position to Congress, losing 22 of its seats to AAP+ and SAD +BJP getting 18.
The former Chief Minister Badal had popularity among all political sections, as he was available 24×7 to his electorate, allies and opponents alike. He was conferred with Panth Ratan, Fakhr-e Kaum by Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee in 2011 and Padma Vibhushan by NDA government. He was also part of Janata Party government in 1977 for a short period.
With the departure of the tallest Akali leader from Punjab political scene, it remains to be seen whether Congress Party will win back its popularity or leave the space for AAP for a longer period of time, because Bhartiya Janta Party will be the biggest sufferer, having lost its joint appeal with Badals, in the rural Punjab.
With most senior political leaders of 20th century politics out of scene in Punjab, apart from PS Badal, former Congress CM Amarinder Singh having lost his following and 2022 state election, Mrs. Ambika Soni, veteran Sunil Jakhar pitted against younger Congressmen PS Bajwa and Navjyot Sidhu; BJPs Arun Jaitley, Balramji Das Tandon, Vinod Khanna gone, actor Dharmender Deol, Manoranjan Kalia being not active, Punjab politics is going to pass through longtime churning.
Central Government in such a situation needs to be in extra vigil lest the anti-national elements with foreign support, pro-Khalistan elements may exploit immature youngsters towards opportunist politics and put country’s security out in the woods. Local and state issues will have to be handled with utmost care and communal harmony be maintained!
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