The Badal-Kairon story in Punjab enters another chapter; between the lines lies Majithia

If the Badals are the first family of Punjab, the Kairons are a close second. Adesh’s grandfather was Punjab stalwart Partap Singh Kairon, who was a Congress leader and the chief minister of the state from 1956 to 1964. Adesh is himself a four-time MLA (1997-2017).

Ironically, the expulsion of Adesh comes just as Sukhbir has been recounting to voters during election rallies how his father, former CM Parkash Singh Badal, was jailed by the Congress government in the aftermath of 1984 and so could not attend Parneet’s wedding.

Putting his family’s long history in the Congress behind him, Adesh joined the SAD just before the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections. The SAD and BJP fought together in the first elections after militancy, and there was a wave for the Akali Dal. After Adesh won from Patti by more than 49,000 votes, he was made a Cabinet minister in his government by his father-in-law Parkash Badal – a decision that did not go down well with many SAD old-timers.

It was around this time that Sukhbir also entered electoral politics, becoming an MP in 1996. Two years later, he became a Union Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government.

The marginalisation of Adesh began in the wake of the rise of Bikram Singh Majithia, Harsimrat’s brother, following the 2007 Assembly elections. Like Adesh, Majithia belongs to the Majha region. Coinciding with this, Sukhbir became the party president.

Majithia soon became a minister in the Parkash Badal-led government that came to power in 2007. Two years later, Harsimrat was elected as an MP from Bathinda, which falls in Malwa, strengthening the hold of her side of the family on the SAD.

Despite Adesh being nearly a decade senior to Majithia in the party, the latter came to be seen as a power centre in the party and in the Akali government from 2007 to 2017. Still, Adesh had the powerful Food and Civil Supplies portfolio.

He eventually lost his ground due to his declining victory margins in successive elections. In 2012, when he won from the Patti Assembly seat for his fourth victory, the gap was just 59 votes.

In 2017, Adesh lost for the first time. But in 2022, banking solely on family influence, he made a play for Assembly tickets for himself and one more family member, from Patti and adjacent Khemkaran seats. Sukhbir, whose differences with Adesh were barely repressed by then, snubbed him. Party sources say that with Badal Senior ailing, Adesh had lost his main supporter in the party, while Majithia had the steadfast support of Sukhbir.

Adesh again lost in the 2022 Assembly polls. His efforts to boost his influence in Majha also remained in vain. Unlike Majithia who nurtured the region, Adesh spent most of his time in Chandigarh, leaving his constituency to his wife Parneet’s care.

Incidentally, it is not clear if Parneet will continue in the SAD or will follow her husband out.

An Akali leader from Majha said the action against Adesh did not come as a surprise. “He is a decent man, but he was never a politician. He always appointed someone to look after his constituency and shunned the media. He won only because of his family legacy… Politics today is very different. Even Sukhbir Badal is sweating in this heat wave to restore the party’s lost ground. Adesh Kairon is not made for this kind of politics,” the leader said.

However, there are some rumblings on the ground over Adesh’s expulsion. A day after the move, SAD leader and SGPC member Manjit Singh resigned from the party, saying he was pained by it.

Virsa Singh Valtoha, the SAD candidate from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, precipitated the turn of events by accusing Adesh of hurting his election campaign (Patti falls within Khadoor Sahib). However, Adesh’s expulsion could hurt Valtoha’s campaign now.

The clear gainer is Majithia – who has had his share of travails recently, including jail time over alleged drug links. He is now the uncontested leader of Majha for the SAD, with other leaders from the region also having left the party in recent years.