His shadow for years, security personnel yet to envisage life without ‘wadde Badal saab’

Badal had Z+ security cover from Punjab Police besides a cover of National Security Guards (NSG) from the Centre. At least 35 security personnel accompanied him everywhere.

Speaking to The Indian Express, his gunmen and staff said that the grand old man of Punjab politics always treated their families as his own, cared for their children when it was needed the most and never left visiting the farms in the village till the end.

“We were a family… he and our entire security team. For the world he must be former CM or doyen of politics but for us, he was our father. He would take care of our families as his own. Often he would ask us to have food with him. I don’t remember if he ever took my name despite being five-time CM. He would call me ‘SP saab’,” remembers Superintendent of Police Harmik Deol, Badal’s security incharge for seven years.

“When he was in hospital this time, he was saying that he wanted to go home and was feeling suffocated. I had assured him that like always, he will recover soon,” says Deol. “I remember when he lost the Assembly election last year, he was back to meeting people the very next day. He said it was people’s mandate and should not be taken to heart. Farming was in his soul. No matter how unwell he used to be, he never skipped visiting fields, orchards and dairy farm in the village”.

Badal with Gunteshwar, son of his PA Vikram Bhullar. (Express Photo)

Deputed with Badal for over two decades, Inspector Harjinder Singh said that the Akali patron remembered the name, village and even name of family members of each of his gunmen. “If anyone’s child would get unwell, he would ask every day. We never saw him angry,” he says.

Inspector Kuldeep Singh, who guarded Badal for over 16 years, reminisced how the SAD patron’s was finger got badly injured due to unintentional negligence of a gunman. Badal was CM at that time. “His finger got crushed when the gunman banged the car’s door. The senior officers asked him if the gunman should be sacked. He defended the gunman and said that no one would touch him and he was not at fault for the injury,” remembers the inspector. “If he would go to some high end hotel or for some outstation trip, he would ensure that we also had food at the same hotel”.

“It never felt like we were guarding a five-time CM. He had no airs. He would call anyone, from clerk to a deputy commissioner to get people’s issues solved and would address them as “saab”. The day he passed away, I was on duty in the hospital. News channels started flashing that he was no more but I refused to believe as earlier also rumours of his death had surfaced. But soon doctors announced the same. It will take a long time for us to adjust to our new routines without him,” said ASI Heera Singh, who guarded Badal for 18 years. “CM or not. We did not see any change in him. His routine of meeting people every day never changed,” he said.

“He used to be so worried for our children, their studies. He would ask us to make them sportspersons. It was on his asking that I started wearing turban. I lost my father today,” said Vikram Bhullar, one of his personal assistants.

And probably it was Badal’s grassroots connect with masses that made him a rare politician who never used social media such as Facebook, Twitter etc for campaigning or publicity. “He used to watch informative videos on agriculture and sports on YouTube but never used social media. He loved watching cricket, hockey and soccer. He loved being among the people not via social media,” added Bhullar.