Why SAD ended up a sad third in poll

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 12

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) suffered an unprecedented drubbing primarily because it remained in the denial mode on issues plaguing the state, even as party chief patron Parkash Singh Badal has held nobody responsible for the defeat.

What ultimately proved to be the SAD’s undoing was its failure to deal sternly with the cases of sacrilege. No wonder the ruling party was humbled in its own stronghold, Malwa.

The SAD also faced hostility for using religious institutions to further its political interests. Compromising with Panthic ideology and institutions, the party leadership tried to woo deras. The move proved counter-productive. It is believed that the seeking of Dera Sacha Sauda’s support by some Akali candidates in Malwa triggered a strong reaction in Majha, where voters largely rejected the SAD-BJP alliance. “The SAD leaders not only lowered the status of Sikh institutions but also caused a lot of harm to Sikh philosophy and religion. Voters vented their anger on SAD leaders,” said SS Johl, a former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University and Punjab Agricultural University and a political observer.

“The SAD, which used to be a party of Panthic people, has now become the fiefdom of a few families. There is no space in it for the common man. People with political ambitions are looking for space in other parties,” said a professor of political science, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

On the drugs issue, the SAD leadership never accepted the ground reality. It went all out to build the argument that those raising the issue wanted to defame the Punjabi youth. Likewise, instead of resolving the problems of unemployed, trained youths, the government used force against them. The free run given to halqa incharges to settle scores with rivals in rural areas was another sore point.

“As halqa incharges were dictating terms to the official machinery, the administration became hostage to their whims and fancies,” said a political commentator, requesting not be quoted.

The government remained unruffled by the spate of farmers’ suicides. It just ordered another survey and didn’t make any effort to deal with the issue head-on.

“If the SAD wants to resurrect itself, it will have to reinvent itself. It must take a stand on issues, notwithstanding its alliance with the BJP. It will have to root itself afresh in the Panthic ethos and spirit to regain the confidence of the rural people, which used to be its voter base,” said Col Jasmer Singh Bala (retd), who was a close associate of late Gurcharan Singh Tohra.