The first was the “abusive outburst” by Akali Dal MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar against the BJP Local Government Minister Manoranjan Kalia leading to the boycott of the cabinet meeting by all the five BJP Ministers.

The second event was the beating up and stripping of Tehsildar Major G.S. Benipal (retd) in his Ludhiana office by Akali Youth wing activists led by Akali councillor Kamaljit Singh Karwal resulting in fracturing of victim's leg and his hospitalisation and also to indefinite strike by Punjab's revenue officials.

On June 17, Makkar had gone to meet Kalia at his official residence and wanted to know the status of his projects (mega malls being built by him and his brother in Jalandhar). When Kalia told him that the files had been sent for final clearance, an angry Makkar started “abusing” Kalia in the presence of a SP and Minister's staff. Claiming that he was harsh and not abusive, Makkar said, “My two projects are being q delayed for nearly nine months. If the Minister is so sluggish in clearing the project of an MLA, think of the plight of the common man”.

Official sources, however, explained that Kalia had given concessions to the Makkars to the tune of Rs.50 lakh. Makkar had wanted concessions on the change of land use, maps, no construction fee and increase in the size of basement which were granted.

Makkar was not wrong in quoting his case for highlighting the plight of the common people who face unending delays to get their problems solved mainly because of the all-pervasive corruption in government departments. But the question is: Will Makkar use political pressure he has used for securing concessions for his and his brother's projects, for getting similar concessions for the common people and abuse the minister if he delays providing relief to them? Unthinkable.

The latest Akali-BJP face-off comes in the backdrop of growing differences between the alliance partners. These include the rift over BJP's demand for Deputy Chief Minister's post (Chief Minister's son Sukhbir Singh Badal was appointed to the post), attempts to encroach upon each other's support base and tussles during last year's local bodies elections which had even evoked a reat by the BJP ministers to resign.

An angry state BJP leadership has referred the issue of Kalia's insult by Akali MLA to its central leadership saying that it is “totally disillusioned” with Akali leadership's attitude towards the party. Some BJP leaders have even started saying that the party quit the alliance and support the government from outside. But despite its growing irritants with the Akali Dal, there is no likelihood of BJP parting company with its dominant ruling partner. Because of their different demographic support bases, Akali Dal depends on BJP's support to ascend to and retain power and BJP cannot dream of coming to power without allying with the Akalis.

The recent political developments, however, will bring about a change in the bargaining powers of the two allies. With Akali Dal's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls and BJP having miserably failed to ride to power at the Centre, the former has lost its utility for BJP at the national level, at least for now. This will give more bargaining power to the saffron party to get its demands including those for spoils of office conceded by the Akali leadership. In the Assembly, Akali Dal depends on the support of BJP's 19 MLAs to remain in power.

What, however, needs to be watched is the outcome of the turmoil currently hitting BJP after its poll debacle. If it takes a serious turn and leads to changes in political alignments of BJP, the Akali Dal may also not remain unaffected by the changes. It is hazardous to speculate which way the Akalis would then go.

The unsavoury episode of beating up and stripping of Ludhiana tehsildar by Akali activists took place on June 19. Akali councillor Karwal led the 30-odd Akali activists entered Beniwal's office for registering their revenue document. Karwal's refusal to register the document out-of-turn angered them. They beat him inside the office with rods and sticks, dragged him out and stripped him in public.

The episode has given a new dimension to the culture of violence the Akalis introduced in Punjab's political life during the local body elections held last year. Armed goons allegedly belonging to Sukhbir Badal-patronised Students Organisation turned Punjab, particularly the Malwa region, into Bihar when they captured polling booths and forcibly prevented people from voting. Since then the media has frequently reported incidents of Akali workers committing excesses in different parts of the state. It is not that other parties workers have not indulged in violence against their opponents. But the scale and dimension of violence committed by Akali workers (reports about Akalis indulging in scuffles even in the presence of the holy book Guru Granth Sahib have often appeared in the media) is a worrying trend in Punjab's public, administrative and social life. If not stemmed, it can pose a serious threat to the state's political stability and democratic life. Will Punjab's political parties make a joint effort to check this trend? A special responsibility falls on Parkash Singh Badal. (IPA Service)