To the critics of the BJP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigning as a minister in the Modi government over farm bills came as music to their ears.But for the Badals, their move, which fell short of walking out of the NDA, might have come with a heavy heart, given their precarious position on their home turf.The Shiromani Akali Dal, which the family runs, has its own rich history of agitations for farmers, natural resources, centre-state ties, and Sikh religious issues.Notified in July, the controversial ordinances, however, drew no strong, on-the-ground protests from the Badal couple -- except for some tweets and media statements -- until farmers in Punjab and elsewhere erupted in demonstrations when they were brought in parliament.Harsimrat Kaur Badal's resignation, therefore, appears to be a reaction to the angry protests in their own political constituency.But while she did what she did, farmers continued with their sit-in at the Badal village in Punjab, demanding the contentious bills are withdrawn immediately.
Tents have been pitched, skits and ballads were performed as part of the demonstrations.SLAMMED OVER PUNJABIYATUnder-reported in the national media, the Badals drew flak from their opponents when the union cabinet approved a bill that left out Punjabi from the new list of official languages for Jammu and Kashmir.The proposed legislation designated Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, Urdu, and English as the official languages of the region, which had historical and cultural ties with Punjabiyat dating back to the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.Here again, it was a Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib, Manish Tewari, who took up the issue first in parliament.
Akali chief Sukhbir Singh Badal spoke about it too -- but only a day later.PUNJAB'S GST DISTRESSLed by chief minister Amarinder Singh, Punjab was among several non-BJP ruled states that recently rejected the central government's offer to borrow the entire projected shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore from GST collections under a special borrowing window facilitated by the RBI.The central government owed Punjab Rs 6,500 crore as GST compensation from April to July.A prominent Badal in the Congress camp, Punjab's finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, warned that the states might one day feel constrained to "breach the spirit of the GST only because it (the centre) failed to meet substantially all commitments and expectations".BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACEMore than three years after their debacle in Punjab, the Badals have not really been able to emerge as a formidable opposition that could ride on anti-incumbent sentiments.Instead, they seem to be caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.The central government's tightening stranglehold over states, its economic and farm policies, and its political ideology have given Punjab's ruling establishment the upper hand over the BJP's Akali allies.Rebels have deserted the Badals.
Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa floated his own party in July.Several other traditional Akalis blame the Badals for abandoning their core "Panthak" doctrine.Remember, at a 1996 conclave in Moga, the party made a break from its roots in a bid to woo non-Sikh voters while the BJP sticks firmly to its own, to date.BATTERED ON RELIGIOUS FRONTAt the religious level, the Badals control the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the top Sikh religious administration that appoints the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest seat of Sikh temporal authority.But the desecrations of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab in 2015 during the Akali-BJP rule and the police firing on devotees apparently protesting it peacefully alienated the Badals further from the Panthak base.The police hunt for Sumedh Saini, whom the Badals appointed Punjab DGP in 2012, aggravated disaffection with the family as the ex-IPS officer stands accused of excesses during militancy in the state.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted him protection from arrest.The Badals might well be aware that snapping ties with the all-powerful BJP will render them politically vulnerable.If at all they do, it would be daringly adventurous in the face of them not being able to cut ice with the masses, with no other allies around, with rebels attempting to capture the mainstream Akali space in Punjab politics, and in the face of accusations of massive corruption, which they deny.Meantime, Sukhbir Singh Badal has described his father and party patron Parkash Singh Badal as one of the "original" founders of the NDA.
So, read between the lines!