The infighting of the sharply divided Congress has virtually incapacitated the party which may affect its potential to comprehensively make use of the golden opportunity provided by the Supreme Court's restoration of Capt. Amarinder Singh's Assembly membership. The politically and publicly marginalized Left stands paralysed because of its short-sighted and dogmatic policies pursued particularly after the CPM Secretary Prakash Karat's assumption of CPM's leadership. The BSP has lost much of its base in Punjab.

The stunned Akali leadership seems to be unclear about its future line of action for erasing the stigma inflicted by its unconstitutional and vindictive action of getting Capt. Amarinder Singh expelled from the House. Perhaps no state government in the country has ever received the kind of judicial blow as the Akali-BJP coalition has. The five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI K.G. Balakrishnan ruled that the decision of the House to revoke Amarinder Singh's membership was excessive, constitutionally impermissible, undemocratic and smacked of political vindictiveness. The breach of privilege case was based on the issue of “causing a loss to the state exchequer by granting exemption by Capt. Amarinder Singh during his Chief Ministership to 32.1 acres of land of a private builder from the purview of Amritsar Improvement Trust scheme.”

Significantly, the apex court's order said “If we were to permit the legislature to exercise privileges for acting against members for their executive acts during previous terms, the courts are likely to be flooded with cases involving political rivalries. One can conceive that whenever there is a change in regime, the fresh incumbents would readily fall back on the device of legislative privileges to expel their political opponents and dissidents”. The bench also said that once a House is “dissolved”, a successive House cannot inquire into the former House's business.

In view of the apex court's indictment, the Akali-BJP leaders will find it impossible to justify their action during the run-up of state Assembly elections due in less than two years in getting Capt. Amarinder Singh expelled from the Assembly. Rational thinkers even among their own ranks have also not been feeling comfortable about Capt. Amarinder Singh's cancellation of Assembly membership. For containing the damage, the coalition leaders may be hoping that as the “people's memory is short” they would soon forget the Supreme Court's stinging verdict. But the opposition will not allow the issue to die.

The main responsibility for spearheading the offensive against the ruling coalition will lie on the Congress. Whether the party will be able to effectively exploit the ruling leaders indefensible act will depend on its ability to close ranks. The virtually paralysed party stands chronically divided between two camps led by the duo of PCC President Mohinder Singh Kaypee and CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on the one side and Capt. Amarinder Singh on the other. Already enjoying a state-wide base Capt. Amarinder Singh's position will further be strengthened within the party and outside after regaining his Assembly membership. Reputed as a fighter, his expected onslaught against the coalition in the House will make its leaders squirm in their seats. Poor governance, near bankruptcy of the exchequer and bad law and order would offer the opposition an effective plank to put the government in the dock.

The coalition government can momentarily heave a sigh of relief from the fact that except Congress there is hardly any other opposition party to take on the Akali Dal and BJP. Not long ago the Left had a recognizable base in some rural pockets and among industrial workers. It also used to be represented in varying numbers in the successive Houses. Whenever the Left and the Congress joined hands -which they often did in the past- to fight the elections, it paid them electoral dividends.

But the Left now finds itself virtually isolated among the people. It does not have any member in the Assembly. Its dogmatic and sectarian approach on important national issues and failure to associate itself with the mainstream national sentiment, particularly after the taking over of CPM leadership by Prakash Karat is mainly responsible for its present pitiable state. They are in no position to offer an effective opposition to the Akali-BJP combine.

The situation of the BSP is no different. Not long back it used to enjoy mass base particularly in the Doaba region which often prompted the mainstream political parties to seek electoral alliance with it. Now sharply divided it has substantially lost its mass base.

Visionary rulers learn from past experiences and take corrective steps to overcome their shortcomings. Instead of learning from its experiences Punjab's ruling leadership apparently enjoys adding to the administrative and political problems. Its misgovernance and failure to put the state finances and economy back on the rails has virtually put the state in the company of BIMARU states. Its misgovernance has made the administration a blunt tool resulting in the snowballing of people's problems. Its numerous administrative actions have been inviting High Court's reprimand. To cap all this comes the Supreme Court's stinging indictment in Capt. Amarinder Singh's Assembly membership case. If the ruling leadership thinks the people's “short memory” would save it from adverse political fallout, it is living in a make-believe world. (IPA Service)