While some believe the Akalis did not want to go against the BJP on matters other than the farm laws, others believe SAD did not want to be seen supporting the Congress.
File photo of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: PTI
Chandigarh: Wary of the opposition’s strong pitch for an independent probe into the Pegasus snooping row, the government adjourned both houses of Parliament sine die two days before the scheduled closing date of August 13. The issue, however, forged a rare but vital unity among opposition parties during the monsoon session, thereby setting the foundation for further dialogue.
Led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, all major political party leaders made the spyware allegations a major issue during the entire monsoon session, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government issued continuous, though incomplete, denials.
Amidst the din, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a strong regional party with a considerable base among the minority Sikh community in Punjab, was not seen standing shoulder to shoulder with the larger Congress-led opposition. This is despite the fact that the SAD is no longer in alliance with the BJP – it walked out of the National Democratic Alliance last year over the news farm laws.
SAD’s major focus in the entire monsoon session was on repealing the farm laws. For the rest of the opposition, however, the Pegasus spyware revelations took centrestage.
SAD also did not attend the breakfast meeting hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, where a call was given in the middle of the parliament session to stitch strong opposition unity over Pegasus and chalk out a formidable strategy.
In a televised interview, SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, former minister in Prime Minister Narender Modi’s cabinet and wife of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, stated that they were not invited for the break meeting hosted by Rahul Gandhi. Secondly, she said, for SAD, the farm issue is more important.
Kaur said hundreds of farmers have died in the last 13 months of their protest against the black farm laws passed by the BJP government. More deaths continue to occur due to the delay in repealing these laws, she said. She added, “For us, human life is of paramount importance. We are ready to support any party to any extent if they are standing firm on farm issues.”
“Par kisanon ke muddon ko chodh lar logon ko jasoosee zyaada important lagne lagi hai. Ye important mudda hai main maanti hun, lekin kisaan se zyaada zaroori nahi hai (But leaving the issue of farmers, people have started finding espionage more important. This is an important issue, I agree, but it is not more important than the farmer),” said Kaur.
Behind SAD’s decision
While most opposition parties did not give the BJP any room on Pegasus, SAD was found rather diminutive in its approach. Does this indicate that barring the farmers’ issue, SAD is not inclined to confront its former alliance partner? Or is it simply that it did not want to be seen with the Congress, its main rival in Punjab, ahead of the state assembly polls due early next year?
The BJP and SAD were always seen as natural allies in the past, dating back to the days of the Jan Sangh. Both parties have been contesting elections in alliance since 1997, until SAD broke ties last year. Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal used to describe his party’s ties with the BJP as ‘nau-mass da rishta (ties like nail and flesh)’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once called then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal the “Nelson Mandela of India”.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal has clarified several times that there is no chance of the party re-entering an alliance with the BJP in the future, but there is still a perception that the parties may come back together if the farmers’ issue is resolved.
Political analyst Harjeshwar Pal Singh said that due to farmers’ pressure, SAD had to take away support from the BJP. But its long association with the BJP – and perhaps the ED cases against Bikram Majithia (the SAD president’s brother-in-law) – the Akali Dal has can’t go against Modi and Amit Shah will all guns blazing.
Panjab University professor of political science Ashutosh Kumar, however, believed that more than its inclination towards the BJP, it is SAD’s arch rivalry with the Congress that has prevented it from being part of the Congress-led opposition.
Dr Pramod Kumar, a political analyst based in Chandigarh, stated that there is no chance that the SAD and Congress will ever be seen on a common platform. There are historical reasons for that. There was a time when the Akali Dal merged with the Congress in the early 1950s. Even SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal started his political journey with the Congress. There is a popular adage in Punjab that every Congressmen in Punjab has their roots in the Akali Dal, barring a few leaders.
But that was history. A faction of the Akali Dal formed a separate group after its merger with the Congress. After the Punjabi suba movement and reorganisation of Punjab, Congress became SAD’s main political rival. Then Operation Blue Star happened under Congress rule, and ties between the SAD and Congress permanently soured.
“We have to read the recent statement of the SAD president very carefully in which he asked all regional parties to come together and form a national front to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” said Pramod Kumar, also director of the Institute of Development and Communication. He said it clearly shows that SAD wants an alternate political front at the national level without the Congress. It may have some effect on regional politics too.
“Therefore one should not read anything beyond it when SAD did not join the Congress-led opposition on Pegasus, as both the parties are arch rivals. As far as the issue is concerned, given that SAD’s core base is farmers, it had to stand behind them in Parliament and raise their issue, but at the same time the party did advocate discussion and a probe on snoopgate,” he added.
Political analyst Khalid Mohammad is of the view that it is a compulsion for SAD to stand behind the farmers’ issue, in order to regain lost political ground, especially after its panthic image was hit in light of sacrilege issue during their government in 2015.
“Therefore, SAD repeatedly highlighting the farmers’ issue in parliament was not surprising,” he added.
There were other regional rivals, however, who came together on the national stage to highlight the Pegasus allegations and demand answers. The Congress and Left parties, for example, who are arch rivals in Kerala, together demanded a probe on spyware use. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, still an NDA ally, too spoke out on the matter. This made SAD’s studied silence in parliament on Pegasus even more conspicuous.
SOURCE ; THE WIRE
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(With input from news agency language)
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