INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Punjab, demanding the contentious bills are withdrawn immediately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
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
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!
