The possibility has arisen following some unsavoury developments that took place during the four-week session. The session witnessed the return of a virulent form of confrontational politics between the treasury and opposition benches which had often marked the Assembly sessions during the 2002-2007 Congress rule.

It also saw the Congress failing to utilize the opportunity to raise the burning issues agitating the people. The CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal's image of being “soft” towards the Akali-BJP government also underwent a change as a result of her adopting a belligerent attitude towards the ruling alliance during the last week's session. This will help her improve her standing vis-a-vis former Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh whose aggressive attitude towards the ruling Akali-BJP alliance had helped him muster support of a majority of Congress MLAs, party ranks and the people disenchanted with the alliance's rule. The session also saw politicians occupying high Constitutional offices showing complete disregard for the ethical and moral political values.

After assuming office nearly three years ago, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while addressing the first session of the Assembly had pleaded for a constructive and healthy relationship between the ruling alliance and the Opposition. While asking for Congress cooperation, he said he would try to pursue consensus and non-confrontationist politics. His pleas were positively responded to by the opposition leader Bhattal. Later a cricket match held between the ruling alliance and Congress legislators highlighted the newly- developed 'bonhomie' between the treasury and opposition benches.

Although the Congress raised important issues and was critical of the government during the subsequent Assembly sessions, many an eyebrow was raised including in the Congress Legislature Party about Bhattal's alleged soft attitude towards the government. Her aggressive postures during the last week's session, however, marked a reversal of her image changing it into a belligerent opposition leader. She led her party's walkout soon after the beginning of sittings during all the three days of the session, the fourth day being a day of obituary references.

The first day's walkout took place against Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon's failure to respond to the opposition's adjournment motion on the state's deteriorating law and order as reflected by the week's two Ludhiana incidents resulting in two deaths in police firing during the migrants-police clash and the demonstration by some radical Sikh organisations against a religious sect's congregation. The Congress charged the Speaker with not following the convention of allowing zero hour during which the opposition could raise the burning issues facing the people. When Bhattal rose to ask about the fate of her adjournment motion, the Speaker instantly asked Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to make his statement. The development showed the treasury benches' strategy to deprive the Opposition the credit of raising burning issues by deputing Sukhbir to make a suo motu statement to defend the government stand on Ludhiana incidents. Thus they thwarted the opposition's plan to target the government, particularly against Sukhbir who also holds the Home portfolio.

But in the remaining two days of the session, the Congress walked out of the House refusing to debate the Ludhiana violence declaring it would not participate in the proceedings of the House till the Speaker allegedly involved in a “cash-for-jobs” scandal, as reported in the media a day earlier, stepped down. Thus it committed the blunder of abandoning its demand for discussing the burning issues and converting it into a clamour for Kahlon's resignation. The case against the Speaker pertains to his reported involvement in the scandal during his tenure as the Rural Development and Panchayat Minister during the 1997-2002 Akali-BJP rule. It was alleged that money exchanged hands in the selection of 909 panchayat secretaries. The subsequent CBI inquiry into the allegations was challenged first in the state High Court and then in the Supreme Court and both courts gave a go-ahead to prosecution. But for the past nine months the Akali-BJP government has denied the CBI permission to prosecute Kahlon.

The Chief Minister has defended the Speaker saying that under the law everyone is innocent until held guilty by a court. Legally, Badal is not wrong. India's many prominent leaders including those of the Congress and Akali Dal (Punjab Assembly Speaker Kahlon included) indicted by investigating agencies or charge sheeted in cases of corruption and possession of disproportionate assets continue to occupy high offices “ as they have not yet been held guilty by courts”. Gone is the era when politicians respected ethical and moral values in politics. Remember Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as Railway Minister owning moral responsibility for a train accident. In today's era when money and power are our politicians sole objective morality has become a myth and immorality a reality.

Seen in the context of Punjab Congress's intra-party politics, Bhattal's belligerent attitude towards the government during last week's Assembly session tends to revive her long forgotten image of a fighter. It may change equations within the state party. Capt. Amarinder Singh's onslaught on the Akali-BJP government against its launching of political vendetta against Congress leaders had made him a hero for them. This image of a fighter had improved the prospects of his being appointed Punjab PCC President.

During the freedom movement Jawahar Lal Nehru had once told the people “Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might.” Given the happenings during the last two years happenings in Punjab beginning with the massive rigging of local body polls by the officially-backed Akali goons and climaxing during last week's unsavoury developments in the Assembly, the slogan for Punjab should be “Democracy is in peril. Protect it with all their might”. (IPA Service)