Sukhbir looks back with anger

On the eve of counting for the Punjab polls, there isn’t much about the last five years that he wants to remember.

On the eve of counting for the Punjab polls, there isn’t much about the last five years that he wants to remember.

MP Sukhbir Singh Badal, general secretary of SAD (B), flashes a wry smile as he recalls the ‘vendetta politics’ against his family. “I spent days inside a cramped cell with lizards for company. I had only seen such treatment in movies. Badal sahib took it all in his stride, doing gardening, feeding pigeons but it was tough on me…” his voice trails off.

With a just a few hours left for the judgement day, Badal Junior is in a pensive mood. “There’s a message in all this,” he muses. “No one can annihilate an opponent, it’s the prerogative of the almighty.”

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Home after paying obeisance at Gurudwara Nada Sahib early this morning to say his thank-you to God, he dwells on his bete noire Capt Amarinder Singh. “The CM acted like an olden-day despot. He wanted to wipe off his opponents.”

Decked up with marigold, his house wears a festive look with a stream of people coming to visit Kaka ji but our man wants to indulge in a bit of flashback. “Can you imagine, there’s nothing that I want to remember of the last five years.”

There is diet Coke laced with loads of excitement as yet another well-wisher projects a smooth victory, but Kaka ji is keeping his fingers crossed. As he receives another congratulatory message, we ask him if he plans to lead SAD in the Vidhan Sabha as the Chief Minister. He shrugs. “The party has decided its leader. It’s Parkash Singh Badal. I am the voice of the people in Parliament.”

Then, it is on to Punjab and its rosy future under SAD (B). “Punjab has to lead the way and our socio-economic policies will ensure that the state prospers”.