The winds of change blowing across Punjab are likely to place Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the daughter-in-law of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, where Preneet Kaur, wife of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, used to be in the Union Cabinet.
As the speculation is on over who will find a berth in the Narendra Modi-led Central Cabinet, it is believed that Badal bahu could be the Preneet Kaur of the NDA — meaning that Harsimrat could be a Minister in Modi Government.
Three-time Patiala MP Preneet Kaur had been inducted in Manmohan Singh cabinet during UPA-II and was given the portfolio of External Affairs. As her husband enjoys good rapport with the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, it was not tough for her to find a place in the Cabinet.
As the Congress managed to bag a total of eight seats during 2009 polls, two other MPs from the State — Manish Tewari, and Santosh Chaudhry, also got berth in the cabinet. Besides, Rajya Sabha MPs from the state — Ambika Soni, Ashwani Kumar, Manohar Singh Gill — had also got Cabinet ministries during UPA’s 10-year rule. Even as the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal has made it clear that he would not seek any Cabinet berth for the party leader, votes for Harsimrat were sought on the pretext that she would be inducted as the Cabinet Minister, and pave way for the state’s development.
Moreover, with Shiromani Akali Dal’s failure to improve its tally and decline in its vote share, the chances of inducting any Akali MP in the cabinet are bleak. At the same time, considering Badal’s proximity with the senior leadership of BJP, the chances of including one of the Akali MP in the cabinet appeared quite fair.
More to the point is that the Akali Dal has failed in its task to ensure ‘an easy win’ for the BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in Amritsar constituency, who faced a resounding defeat by a margin of over one lakh votes by the hands of Congress’ Capt Amarinder Singh. Earlier reluctant, Jaitley was persuaded by the Badals to contest from the holy city with an assurance of his victory.
As Jaitley, being a Rajya Sabha member, is expected to find the job as the next Finance Minister, Badal’s position in the NDA has received a setback after Amritsar defeat that may eventually affect his day in the alliance. SAD has retained its 2009 tally of four seats, while BJP has gained one and won two seats — Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, this time.
Things are not that easy for Harsimrat to be a part of Modi cabinet, as the senior most MP from Punjab and BJP leader Vinod Khanna, who has also been a former Union Minister, could also be a possible choice.Moreover, two senior Akali leader and the Rajya Sabha members — Naresh Gujaral and Balwinder Singh Bhundar — are eyeing a berth in the Modi cabinet.
Already under criticism for backing his family members, Badal may also find it difficult to secure a place for her daughter-in-law in case Modi wanted to induct one MP from each SAD and BJP. The BJP parliamentary party meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday in which all the Chief Ministers of NDA and the senior leaders would be present during the meeting when Modi will be formally declared as NDA’s choice to be the next Prime Minister. As part of ongoing consultations aimed at the formation of the new NDA Government, BJP’s Prime Minister-designate, Narendra Modi is in the process of meeting the senior party leaders as well as other alliance partners. It is not yet confirmed whether Modi has met or talked to senior Badal or not.