Banding together and winning votes

Chandigarh, Jan. 15. 2017

February 7, 1997, was when Punjab went to the polls. It was a time when the Congress had been voted out at the Centre and H D Deve Gowda was Prime Minister. In Punjab, Congress' Rajinder Kaur Bhattal struggled to get a hold over a state unit she had been at the helm of for just a short while. She had replaced Harcharan Singh Brar, another Congress Chief Minister, mid-term. Brar's abrupt removal and infighting within the party were to cost the Congress dear. He was later to withdraw his candidature from Muktsar constituency on health grounds, triggering his expulsion from the party. Captain Amarinder Singh quit the Akali Dal, a party he had joined after the 1984 Operation Bluestar, but this did not impact these elections.  

The elections came at a time when the Congress faced headwinds. The Akali Dal, which had not fought in the previous elections, was now raring to go. Coalition governments had not found much success in Punjab, as none completed their term. However, the Akali Dal and BJP both realised going it alone was more a path to oblivion. Thus, in 1997, they revived the coalition mantra, announcing a common minimum programme. Although, as The Tribune pointed out in an editorial, they were "together, yet separate". 

The Akali Dal fielded 92 candidates, and the BJP 22. A secular agenda that focused on peace, development, and communal harmony was announced. Various parties went all out to woo the voters with sops, including free water and electricity for farmers. The run-up to the elections was marked by a spirited campaign. After being on the sidelines during the 1992 elections, this time the Akalis put in all their might into the battle, and as Gurcharan Singh Tohra was to later admit, they benefited in urban areas because of their alliance partner. 

The Akali-BJP collation worked out well. The Akali Dal won 75 seats, the BJP 18, and the Congress, which had swept the 1992 polls with 87 seats as the Akali Dal boycotted the elections, was now reduced to just 14 seats. The alliance swept into power with a thumping majority of 93 seats. Parkash Singh Badal returned to the helm after 17 years as the new Chief Minister. Kanshi Ram's BSP was swept aside, as was Simranjit Singh Mann's party. A hope was raised that the new government would cement the Hindu-Sikh unity and would provide Punjab with efficient and corruption-free governance.