The last month’s column had, in brief, said that the Congress had contracted death wish. “Even after its unexpected and self-inflicted defeat in the March 2012 Assembly elections, the party has not overcome its shortcomings which caused its defeat. Its factionalism-hit leadership stands vertically divided.” Not only the situation has not changed but continues to worsen.

The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow. The current state of the Akali Dal’s health is like a spider that gets entangled in its self-woven web. Acting on the above adage, the party leadership has been declaring its zero tolerance of corruption and criminal elements and also promising a bright and prosperous future for Punjab.

The declarations and promises are, however, getting implemented in reverse direction. Corruption continues to be rampant. Some of the ministers are involved in government funds embezzlement cases while some others in criminal cases. Some activists of Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia-headed Youth Akali Dal are acting like those of the Emergency period’s Sanjay Gandhi’s Youth Congress brigade. Some of them are committing excesses and facing charges of rape and killing off even police officers. A newspaper report has said that Prakash Singh Badal in his address during the last week’s Pravasi Punjabi Sammelan gave a piece of mind to the wayward functioning of his son Sukhbir Singh’s brother-in-law Majithia.

Although fresh announcement for setting up five-star projects continue to be made by the Deputy Chief Minister, many of the already promised projects are in a state of limbo. The promises made in the party’s election manifesto, by and large, remain unfulfilled. Punjab continues to be neck-deep in debt. The government is functioning on loans. Any measure for mobilizing resources evokes protests from the alliance partner since the measures affect mostly the urbanites, the BJP’s vote bank.

The NRIs are reluctant to invest in Punjab. A study — “Punjabi Diaspora in the UK: an overview of Characteristics and Contributions to India” based on discussions with members of the community in the UK conducted by Prof. Rupa Chanda in November 2011 — said “that the Punjabi diaspora in the UK has been quite keen to invest in Punjab, but bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption and lack of political will are coming in the way.”

The Akali leadership has been blaming the Centre for whatever goes wrong in the State. But it takes credit for the centre-funded schemes. The schemes, which cannot be hijacked, are described as measures by the Centre to lure voters.

A recent example is when Sukhbir Singh’s otherwise well-respected and articulate MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal last week alleged that the UPA was luring voters by initiating direct cash transfers keeping in mind the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. She said that “the government should understand that voters have become wise … it cannot fool 20 crore poverty-stricken voters by starting direct cash transfers at the fag end of its tenure.” But she did not explain the purpose behind the announcements of huge sops of around Rs.10,000 crore made by the Akali-BJP government at the fag end of its first term although the government treasury had no money with unpaid bills of over Rs. 2,000 crores pending.

The state of health of Punjab BJP is no better than what it is at the national level. The party is faction-ridden with some of its ministers having acquired the image of being incompetent and indecisive. What is worse is their growing feeling of being ignored and even humiliated by the senior ruling partner and government officers. The latest example is of Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal’s publicly reprimanding additional director general of police Gurdev Singh Sahota for not receiving him at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) complex during his (Mittal’s) visit to open a community health centre on the complex. Mittal even threatened “not to continue” if subjected to such “humiliation” in future.

Some may describe Mittal’s reaction as reflecting his bloated ego. But to quote Lord Chesterfield “An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.” The episode has exposed the brewing discontent among BJP ministers over allegedly being ignored by the senior ruling alliance partner. During its last core committee meeting a majority of the BJP ministers had reportedly expressed dismay over not being duly consulted by the Badals before taking important decisions even in their own departments, thus rendering them mere spectators.

During his address to last week’s Pravasi Sammelan Badal also corrected his son’s assertion that development alone could keep the Akali Dal in power. Badal said that “development isn’t the only factor. The confidence of all castes and religions also matters. They have to trust our secular credentials”. Notwithstanding the Akalis seeking radical Sikhs support in the last elections, the senior Badal’s assertion that his party, which long back used to be a communal outfit, is to pursue secular politics is a positive development for Punjab.

It is in the above backdrop that the BJP leadership’s reaction about the party being ignored by the Akali leadership needs to be seen. It is clear that Sukhbir’s strategy of expanding his party’s base in the BJP’s urban bastion is leading to the Akali Dal’s waning dependence on the BJP. In the period to come, this may lead to a confrontation between the ruling allies.

Their relations may, however, not witness any major change till the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But the post-2014 period may offer what TV headlines never tire of making “Breaking News” announcements.

One needs to keenly watch post-2014 upheavals in Punjab politics. (IPA Service)