|
Sukhbir designs rally to do some Insaaf to himself
BJP ready to do business with Kaka, he becomes
‘Sardar’
WSN Bureau
NEW DELHI:
Debate has long gone out of favour in Punjab politics, and
de-politicization of the political parties and its rank and file has
long taken roots. So the best mode that the politicians in
Punjab
have found over the years to display that they command a following
and devotion are crowd gathering events. Rallies are called 'Raillas'
now, in keeping with the perverse Punjabi perception that a
masculine noun must be somehow superior to a feminine one.
 This week, Sukhbir Singh Badal led a rally of the Akali Dal and BJP in
Delhi,
a triply-filtered unambiguous show of power in the national capital,
and the proof at the national level that the Badals have sold the
Panthic soul to the saffron lobby. To rub salt into panthic wounds,
Sukhbir thought of the name Insaaf Rally.
Hordes of Akali
workers loaded onto commandeered trucks and buses were coolied to
Delhi
overnight for the February 26 show that was primarily meant to put a
seal of BJP's approval on Sukhbir Singh Badal's ascendance as the
future leader of the alliance. Secularisation of the panthic domain
is complete, and total. That the SGPC officially announced that it
too participated with gusto only heightened the shame.
The ruling Akali
Dal of course interpreted the entire exercise as some kind of a big
victory, inserting paid photographs of the mammoth crowds which were
actually advertisements masquerading as news pictures.
BJP president
Rajnath Singh showered his blessings on Badal Junior, and that of
course was a victory. Clearly, the RSS is ready to do business with
the next generation of Badals.
The setting
reflected both the spirit and the purpose of the grand show
organized by Sukhbir in
New Delhi within
weeks of his installation as SAD president in far-off
Amritsar.
Akali Dal's press release called the show
"conceived and organized by Shiromani Akali Dal's youthful new
President and MP Sukhbir Singh Badal", gave him all the credit for
fine tuning the logistics "to the finest detail", hoardings dotted
the rally route projecting Sukhbir larger than everyone else, even
his father and BJP luminaries ranging from Atal Behari Vajpayee and
L K Advani to Rajnath Singh.
|
|
Sonrise |
|
| |
-
Akali leaders called him Shere- Punjab, Sikh jarnail,
chief of 21st century Akali Dal
-
Rally mainly aimed at projecting Sukhbir as the sole inheritor
of father
-
This time, not one leader mentioned that he is not an
Amritdhari
-
And not one dared to call him ‘Kaka ji’ any more.
|
|
Poor Dhindsas,
Capt Kanwaljits, and all the veterans were reduced to "also spoke"
category while Sukhbir "roared". As one national newspaper was quick
to notice, "the Akali symbol of scales occupied just one corner at
the bottom and the BJP lotus the other — conveying the message that
he belongs equally to both."
 Not one called
Sukhbir "kakaji". He had become a "Sardar". Advertisements put in by
minions in the newspapers called him Sher-e-Punjab, Jujharoo
Yodha, Sikh Panth Da Jarnail, and what not, though the only
battle he has been seen in were slanging matches of abuse with
Captain Amarinder Singh, unless you count the battles in a
corruption case in Ropar where of course his entire clan was
fighting hard, armed to the hilt with brains like that of H S
Mattewal.
Balvinder Singh
Bhundar called Sukhbir the Akali chief of the 21st century. Avtar
Singh Makkar found him "the heartbeat of Akali workers". Captain
Kanwaljit said he was "Panth's jarnail". And the stage secretary
knew it was mandatory to mention Sukhbir's wife Harsmirat Kaur
Badal's name. Her contribution? "Special efforts made by her for the
rally." Top Akali leader and guardian of the panth's interests in
the eyes of the Badal, Naresh Gujral, was seated on the stage.
"Complete and
total waiver" was what Badals demanded for the farmers' loans, but
the intent of the rally was "complete and total control of the
party."
It was left to
BJP national president Rajnath Singh to say that the Sikhs can never
compromise on their pride and self respect. For good measure, the
BJP leader also demanded an end to the "interference in the internal
affairs of the Panth." Perhaps, it will be now the RSS' turn to do
that interference.
 Now panthic
rallies happen at Ram Leela grounds, BJP leaders take up the Sikh
causes, and kakas turn into Jujharoo Yodhas overnight,
galloping on choppers in battlefields of politics, trying to win
corruption cases, run five star resorts, turn ordinary buses into
air conditioned ones and supervise upcoming Malls, all at the same
time. And we get this rosy picture post card thanks to hordes of
journalists ferried to Delhi by Shatabdi trains, AC cars and regular
flights and treated to five star comfort, depending upon their
standing in the eyes of the futuristic leader of the new look
secularised computerised Akali Dal. The colour of the turban is
still blue, some flags still saffron and the jaikara still
'Bole So Nihal', but gradually that too will change. This is a whole
new generation of rulers, it will plunge us to a whole new low.
27
February 2008
|
Read Also