Bogey of the past

Even though the poll process for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections has not been announced, all political parties are pulsing with hectic activity relating to the hustings. Finding ways and means to counter the price rise, economic downturn and terrorism, besides the pros and cons of the nuclear deal are expected to be the main planks of most parties. Governance of the parties in power in states of course would have an overarching effect on the polls results. In Punjab, however, there are indications of the Shiromani Akali Dal invoking the implementation of the controversial Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a poll issue. Soon after being inducted as the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal told media persons that he would strive for the transfer of Punjabi speaking areas in neighbouring states to Punjab and also fight for Ravi-Beas waters for the state. One would have thought this to be nothing more than a homily put across to silence poking journalists but for the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal stating that the SAD would put the Anandpur Sahib Resolution in perspective before the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and other constituents of the NDA. Whether or not this finally becomes a poll issue, it has livened up the pre-poll scene. Certain state Congressmen have already dubbed the SAD demand as separatist and anti-national.
Political observers are intrigued at SAD’s attempt to bring the Anandpur Resolution to the forefront at this juncture. Some feel that this is to divert attention from the incumbency factor that threatens to go against the party. Others interpret it as an effort to bring the hard-liners back to the fold. Either way, the SAD is unlikely to gain any political mileage from the demand. Frequent power cuts and the crumbling state of most major towns in the state are bound to add to the anti-incumbency factor. The incumbency factor could gain further currency following recent statements of the new Deputy CM, including the one that he would weed out corruption from the state. By so saying, he is in fact admitting that there is wide ranging corruption in the state. The Sikh hard-liners are unlikely to go along with the SAD for they have already accused the SAD of deviating from their stand on the issue. Moreover, since the demand for the implementation of the Resolution from 1980 onwards hurtled the state into such a deadly violent phase, the voters are unlikely to take the bait again.
The Resolution has a chequered history. Adopted by the Working Committee of the SAD way back in 1973, it was finally endorsed in 1978 with a series of resolutions. While some of the demands were innocuous, the main ones included the transfer of Punjabi speaking areas in the nearby states, including Chandigarh to Punjab, and redefining of powers of the Centre. There is no doubt that certain aspects of the document are akin to what many other political parties and states have been demanding. But unfortunately, the document has been politicized in such a manner that it has come to be identified by many with separatism. Besides, SAD’s own track record on the issue is highly dubious for it has done nothing to either remove the misgivings or crystallize the underlying issues.
The only way the contentious document can become a poll plank is by making it relevant to the times. If issues like agricultural pricing (over which the Centre has absolute control), are projected forcefully and other agricultural states taken along, there would be instant voter appeal. Or else why would any area - Punjabi speaking or otherwise - in the cash-rich Haryana today opt for Punjab which is starved of funds? Similarly, in order to make the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which has undergone a demographic metamorphosis over the years, even think of a merger with Punjab, its nearby areas which form the Greater Mohali Development Authority should be made an icon of peace, development and opportunities worthy of emulation.
Also, this is perhaps the most inopportune time to raise the demand for anything like the document under discussion. The SAD government in the state is wholly dependent on BJP support. Since the BJP has made its discomfiture on the issue public many a time, there is no reason for the party leadership to acquiesce to such a demand at this juncture. The demand is also out of tune with the national mood at this point of time. It is significant that despite the bias against the states in fiscal and other matters, in the present constitutional arrangement, such has been the spectre of violence in recent months that there were only a handful of voices of dissent as Centre equipped itself with more powers to combat terrorism, including a national investigative agency. Moreover, since the Centre has once again appointed a Commission to go into the whole gamut of Centre-State relations, most people will argue that those serious about autonomy for states should put forward a foolproof case before the Commission. Instead of allowing the past to cloud its future, the SAD leadership would do well to forge a clear-cut direction for itself for the remaining three years by introspecting on the past two years of rule marked by populism sans substance and dichotomy of power.