Punjab has finally got what eluded it for decades — a secularised bi-polar polity.The Akalis are back in power, but only with a whole-hearted support of minority Hindu votes through the BJP. As for the “Panthic” agenda, the Akalis did not carry their historical baggage in the first place. And to free them of any worries, the voter has eliminated competition for the “Panthic” vote. The rejection of hardliner Simranjit Singh Mann is complete. All his 37 candidates, including himself and son Emaan Singh Mann, have lost.A total of 36 parties wooed the voters — from the established Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI(M) and CPI to unknown entities like the Sarva Samaj Party and Phule Bharti Lok Party. They have all been decimated. Only the two principal players — Congress and Akali Dal-BJP combine — have survived. The rest in the new Assembly are five Independents.After a long time no sectarian issues figured in the polls. There was no talk of the “Panth” facing discrimination or being under siege. Nor did the Akalis use gurdwara congregations to mobilise support. To the contrary, SAD president Parkash Singh Badal went a step ahead — he fielded seven Hindu candidates on SAD tickets compared to the usual two. Five of them won. The BJP replicated the Badal strategy. It fielded three Sikhs apart from nominating Navjot Singh Sidhu for the Amritsar byelection. Sidhu and two Sikh Assembly candidates have been elected. It was actually the so-called secular Congress, which sought and obtained the support of the influential but highly controversial Sacha Sauda sect. It is facing a CBI inquiry following the murder of a Sirsa journalist. The sect was instrumental in the undoing of Akalis in their traditional stronghold of Malwa. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh worked on the Sikh peasantry to snatch the Akali vote, but in the process lost track of the traditional Hindus vote-bank of the Congress party.The Left remains irrelevant. The CPI used to ride the Congress piggy-back during its heydays in Punjab and the CPI(M) flirted with Akalis. An excellent personal equation between former CPI(M) secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Akali leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra provided them with the requisite glue. With Surjeet off the scene, Tohra dead and Akalis strongly aligned with the BJP, there is no such avenue anymore. The Congress has since abandoned CPI.With no other choice, the Communists of both denominations settled for an alliance with the Lok Bhalai Party of Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. They too have drawn a blank.Similarly, Mayawati has failed to claim even a single seat from the home state of Kanshi Ram after putting up 115 candidates.
