The veil of suspense that shrouded the Punjab elections is finally over. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine is back in power after the Congress failed to break the age old anti-incumbency jinx. As victory celebrations settle down, the SAD will now have to prove itself on tall promises of atta-daal and bijli it made to the voters. This time it has by its side a resurgent BJP which proved itself with the best strike rate in this election bagging 19 of the 23 seats it contested. The BJP, which is now seeking its pound of flesh with greater representation in Parkash Singh Badal’s Cabinet, is sure to assert its will in an attempt to cash in on this opportunity and seek its own identity in Punjab, something which has been missing so far. The party, which got just three seats in the last Assembly elections, was seen more as a party that lived on its past glory and its overall national profile. But for many the big question remains whether the Akalis will ultimately walk in the Congress direction pursuing ‘vendetta’ politics. Whether the SAD’s socio-economic agenda will get derailed in the Badal versus Amarinder fight? The SAD leadership has so far limited itself to seasoned quotes on the issue, but deep within it is hard for them to give up on the fate of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh. The Akali threat to expose ‘corrupt’ practices in the Congress regime is widely viewed as the beginning of their pursuit against the former CM. But the BJP has already sounded a word of caution. It is against vendetta politics and will not favour SAD’s “designs” on lines similar to the Congress. For the SAD, it is hard to negate the BJP given its renewed vigour. Without the BJP tally of 19 legislators, the SAD’s performance of 48 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha may not appear anyway stable. “We lost to the BJP, not to the SAD,” said former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, whose party bagged 44 seats in the elections. The BJP is now gearing up for some meaningful politics in Punjab. It is eyeing the post of Deputy Chief Minister, besides a larger representation in the Cabinet. Senior BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon said the BJP is far better placed than before. “The party has never been in favour of vendetta politics. I believe the Akalis also do not follow this line,” he said. A change of guard in also likely in the Punjab BJP with incumbent state president Avinash Rai Khanna on his way out. The Akali Dal, which till recently had been treating the BJP as a ‘lesser’ party in the state, lost no time in realising the emerging clout of the party in Punjab. The Akalis could not have done without the BJP to get the urban Hindu votes and ultimately conceded to the BJP’s demand for 23 seats as a seat sharing agreement. The flowing Sidhuisms too proved an asset for the Akali Dal. The growing stature of cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who’s probably the lone face from Punjab for the BJP at the national level, was someone the Akalis were prepared to gamble on despite the stigma of his conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. “Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency and the Assembly constituencies in the segment were traditionally a Congress stronghold. It is Sidhu who has turned the tide in the area,” said a BJP leader. With the BJP winning in neighbouring Uttrakhand and Assembly elections scheduled for Himachal in 2008, where the ruling Congress rides on anti-incumbency, the BJP is looking ahead to make most of the opportunity.
