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Badal saw greatness in Bunny, he
didn’t in Badals
WSN
Bureau
 CHATT
VILLAGE (MOHALI): Merely 72 hours after Akali Dal leader and
minister Captain Kanwaljit Singh died on a Sunday in a shocking car
accident, his son Jasjeet Singh Bunny delivered the next shock to
the House of Badals, saying he planned to fight the Patiala Lok
Sabha seat as an independent. By Thursday, massive efforts were
afoot, and the Badals were pressing all the panic buttons.
From Daljit
Singh Cheema to Ujagar Singh Badaali, anyone with a nodding
acquaintance tried his level best. And when the bhog happened on
Sunday at the Chatt village near Zirakpur, and the entire Akali Dal
line up sat on stage, every one was spewing the same line. The
thousands who had converged were told by one after the other speaker
that Capt Kanwaljit Singh was the epitome of greatness, and Jasjeet
Bunny was naturally going to only surpass the father in greatness.
Had one not
known the compulsions in which the Badals were orchestrating the
event, and had the circumstances not been so tragic, you would have
discerned the comic elements easily. "Bunny Sahib ne bahut agge
jaana hai," Parkash Singh Badal told the crowd. For good measure, he
also said something that he says everytime he addresses a big
gathering. "Not in my entire life have I seen such a sea of
sangat."
"I used to tell
Captain Sahib that Bunny Sahib now speaks even better than you or
me," Badal Sr was in no mood to leave any stone unturned. Sukhbir
Singh Badal also made all the right noises. As the crowd probably
guessed that the deal has been done, Bunny utilised the dying
minutes to thank the sangat. And then the bombshell dropped. He said
he was going to contest Patiala LOk Sabha and that his mother will
contest Banur Assembly seat of his late father.
As faces dropped
and realisation dawned that it meant heavy losses in Patiala,
Fatehgarh Sahib and Anandpur Sahib, the Badals went in for the usual
suspect: Congress was behind it all, they concluded. The rest of the
party leadership has so far not said anything. Next day Sukhbir
issued a statement saying Akali Dal will win Patiala by one lakh
votes. Simply translated, it meant that the Badals will now do all
to finish the legacy of Kanwaljit Singh.
But what escaped
much analysis was the larger picture. Manjit Singh Calcutta backing
Congress and Rajbir Singh Padiala joining Congress at a time when
the Badals are underlining the party as an enemy of the Sikhs.
Amarinder Singh is working on a daily basis to breach the Akali
fortress, and one wonders till when will the Congress afford to
swallow the Amarinder line?
8
April 2009
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