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Why did Sukhbir Singh Badal rush to
Mumbai?
WSN Network
 The
latest Akali Dal move of rushing a top level party delegation to
Mumbai is a brainchild of Sukhbir Singh Badal for whom the entire
controversy surrounding the Sirsa-based Baba is crucial from the
electoral view point. After the latest re-juggling of
constituencies, it is hardly any secret that Bathinda will be the
new karam-bhoomi of Sukhbir Badal and with the electoral maths being
what it is, the Sirsa sadh's signal to his disciples could prove
crucial to swing any election.
Political
experts say it will be very tricky for Sukhbir to reach any
understanding with the Sacha Sauda followers, given the current Sikh
sensitivities on the matter. So it was crucial that Sukhbir gets an
image of being on the right side of the community, and the
high-profile visit to Mumbai was to yield several photo-ops to send
home that message.
In any case,
senior Akali leaders think the mainstream ruling Akalis had long
left the issue unaddressed, resulting in a situation where the
radical sections of the community, the clergy, organisations like
the Dal Khalsa and Akal Purakh Ki Fauj, many vigilante groups and
militant-than-thou mushrooming hordes in villages were taking over
the social fabric. A new awakening seemed in the air, and the Akalis,
wedded to power, wanted to deflect the issue.
Clashes between
the Sikh groups and followers of the Dera over nam-charcha have been
happening frequently even though hundreds of such skirmishes in the
countryside failed to make it to mainstream media. A high eye-ball
intervention was thought of by the Akali Dal, as a political party,
to be necessary to snatch back the issue from forces that the Akalis
think are too radical for them.
Long time
watchers of Punjab politics say no matter how secularised has
Sukhbir Badal made the Akali Dal, the fact remained that the party's
core constituency was its religio-social appeal among the Sikhs,
particularly the rural folk. It is there that the Akali Dal was
being seen as unconcerned with the tussle between Sikhs and Dera
baba. With his Mumbai intervention, Sukhbir Singh Badal tried to not
only indicate that the Akali Dal will not leave open a huge area for
its opponents within the Sikh mainstream but also made it easy for
himself to strike an understanding at a later date with the Dera
followers. It is a matter of real politic. After all, he can always
turn back and remind the community of his by then famous Mumbai
visit.
25
June, 2008
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