Pot versus kettle

Last week, senior Congress leader, Gurcharan Singh Galib quit the Congress party, on whose ticket he had been elected as a Member of Parliament twice, to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). Though he explained his decision to "sycophancy in the Congress", he was apparently miffed at reports that he would be denied the Congress ticket for the Ludhiana seat again. Besides, he appears to have been promised the SAD (Badal) ticket for the same seat. For the immediate future, this and similar “crossovers” on the eve of polls will have a bearing on the outcome of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. However, in the long term, this shows the ideological bankruptcy of the political parties, which, sooner or later, is bound to have a debilitating effect on not only their organizational structure but electoral politics as well.
Though “changeovers” on the eve of polls are a common phenomenon, they seriously dent the image of the parties. In this case, the Congress is a national party, which swears by secularism and socialism, although of late the party has taken a right of center position on economic affairs. On the other hand, the Akali Dal is a religio-political party, whose strength lies in being the principal party of the Sikhs in Punjab. Although of late the party has been at pains to put forward a more secular face, it still leans heavily on the Bhartiya Janata Party to garner the Hindu urban votes in the state. Since 1984, the SAD has been blaming the Congress for Operation Bluestar and also the anti-Sikh carnage that followed in Delhi and elsewhere following the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards. As Galib dons the Akali blue over the Congress white overnight, what happens to the ideology of the SAD? Similarly, when the Congress allows leaders of the splinter Akali groups, which have a hawkish agenda, to join the party, it not only accepts the party’s lack of ideological commitment but possibly its own dubious role during turbulent times in the state.
Galib’s defection from the Congress to the Akali Dal or vice versa is neither the first nor the last in Punjab. In fact, in the post-Bluestar period, it assumed the shape of a major exodus from the Congress. Among those who left the Congress was Captain Amarinder Singh. However, this could be explained to the peculiar circumstances of the time and the extreme provocation of the defiling of the Sikh sanctum-sanctorum. That later Captain Amarinder Singh not only rejoined the Congress, but that he was elected in the hustling to head the state was indicative of the fact that the people had moved on with the times. Although the Congress lost the last Vidhan Sabha polls in Punjab, its performance especially in the Malwa belt was indicative of the weakening of the grip of the Akali Dal on the Sikh rural masses. At this juncture, while allowing crass turncoats from the Congress to join the party in an effort to add a seat or two in the final tally, could further erode its ambiguous ideological base.
This is in stark contrast to the politics in other democracies of the world. In the US, for example, you have the Democratic and the Republican parties, who are clearly distinguishable by their ideology. While the US Republican party supports a conservative and center-right platform, the Democrats swear by a liberal and socially progressive stance. Of late there has been a churning process on both sides on various issues in the US but defection of senior leaders on eve of polls to contest would be unthinkable and of course unacceptable by the electorate. Of course, political humourists in the US refer to one as evil party and the other a stupid party, with the disagreement being on which is which. Perhaps, in Punjab, there is no disagreement for with every election the ideological distinction between the Congress and the Akali Dal is getting blurred! The process of allegations and counter allegations between the two, which has already started, is like the pot calling the kettle black!
In fact, the ideological base of both the Congress and the Akali Dal in the state has been weakening over the years. Captain Amarinder Singh’s pro-farmer stance and his effort to usurp the panthic agenda of the Akali Dal when he was the Chief Minister, may have given him electoral advantage in the Malwa belt but this cost the party in the Doaba belt. The SAD (Badal) is in a bigger dilemma. It is uncertain on the stance to adopt on panthic issues (with which it has a ongoing conflict with splinter groups within the Akali Dal), including the outdated Anandpur Sahib Resolution. At the same time, it is wavering between the traditional pro-people issues with which the party has been associated and the mega projects, which is a legacy of the Congress regime.
For the SAD the ideological dilemma is directly related to generational politics. The party is in the process of moving from the senior leadership rooted in the religio-political ideology to the next generation committed to a more progressive agenda. Though comparisons are not exactly accurate, this development is reminiscent of what happened in England, where a “New Labour” party has emerged in recent years – moving from the traditional socialist position to the rightist stance, much to the chagrin of the labour classes, though.
Interestingly, in pushing ideological issues to the background, both the Congress and the SAD in Punjab have opted for personality-based politics - Amarinder, Bhattal or KP in the Congress and the Badals' in the SAD. This is entwined with dynastic rule – with more family members of leaders on both sides set to enter the election fray. In doing so, they put the measuring barometer henceforth on development and governance, along with nepotism.