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Journalism of Courage
Secret of Badal Senior’s health
Guess what is the secret of SAD patron Prakash Singh Badal’s longevity and good health. Well, he says it’s all due to his simple diet of daal-roti and exercise. Yes, all you out there who are inspired by the large number of very prosperous looking people during the polls, guzzling copious cups of chai with bread pakoras, please take note. Exercise is non negotiable. And on most days before Covid, Badal saab would do it at least an hour a day. Match that.
The ‘kaale kanoon’
If there is one thing that farmer unions have done without meaning to is to change the nomenclature of the now repealed three farm laws. Once upon a time where they were passed and lived their short life, they had long titles but in the poll-bound Punjab, all three are clubbed into one catch-all term “kaale kanoon”. Be it young or old, men or women, traders or farmers, doctors or engineers, supporters or detractors, the entire Punjab calls them “kaale kanoon”. That may well explain why they were repealed. What’s not in a name.
A for accessibility
A round of Punjab in the election mode is a must for anyone with any kind of political aspiration. One thing that you will glean very quickly is that accessibility is the key to being a good politician. It’s one lesson that one voter after the other drives home endlessly. So in Kotkapura, Congress candidate Ajaypal Singh Sandhu is “har man pyaare” because he is available to the people of his constituency. There are others who came, who won and who disappeared. Voters tend to be chary of such persons. But even a good politician’s career hangs by a thread as fickle voters can often get swayed by a bigger leader or a party.
Baljinder, Brar with folded hands
Folded hands. That is one mudra common to many a poll poster in Punjab. It cuts across party and gender lines. Every leader in these posters has to look you in the eye, with a humble appeal. The folded hands are an entreaty, a quietly desperate plea. But not everyone can do this with elan. Which is
why the award for keeping hands folded well goes to AAP’s Baljinder Kaur from Talwandi Sabo and Akali Dal’s Mantar Brar from Kotkapura. If you want to find out the real reason why, ask their voters.
