Keeping CM post open part of SAD strategy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15

While SAD president Sukhbir Badal announced Deputy Chief Minister’s post for a Dalit leader if the party is voted to power in 2022 Assembly election, the party has strategically kept the post of the Chief Minister open.

Party insiders say five-time Chief Minister and party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal will be the face of the campaign, but Sukhbir will be the CM candidate. The senior Badal is reportedly quite active, despite his age and the Covid-19 epidemic. Besides speaking regularly with senior party leaders, he recently called up newly appointed youth wing leaders across the state and shared his own experiences. He has not retired from active politics as yet.

Sukhbir created a ripple in the Punjab political scene on Wednesday when he announced the Deputy CM post for a Dalit leader. He made this announcement on the Ambedkar Jayanti, celebrated especially by the Dalits for his work to uplift the community.

All other parties reacted immediately, claiming the announcement was a political gimmick aimed at attracting nearly 33 per cent Dalit votes in the state. The parties also announced top political posts for Dalit leaders.

While it seemed Sukhbir made an impromptu statement, enquiries suggest party leaders had carefully planned it. Various Akali leaders told The Tribune the issue was discussed at the last two core committee meetings and all were on board for reserving the post for a Dalit leader.

Sukhbir was the Deputy Chief Minister in the last tenure of the Akalis in alliance with the BJP. When The Tribune asked him today if he was the CM candidate, Sukhbir said the decision would be taken by the voters of Punjab and the legislative party after the elections.

Interestingly, this is the second time this year that the SAD president has announced key decisions of the party’s core committee later. Earlier, he had announced his candidature from the Jalalabad constituency and sounded the poll bugle for the next year’s elections.

The party looking to focus on Dalit votes as it is already considered to be representative of the Jat Sikh community. The party is hoping the resignation of Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Cabinet over the farm laws will garner rural votes. This vote bank seemed to have been hit by the sacrilege incidents earlier, though the party is trying to regain ground now.

The quashing of the Kotkapura police firing probe, which pointed the finger at the Akali leadership, also seems to be helping the party.