With the second term of the BJP-led NDA Government set to take off from May 30-Thursday, the two-time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a bit difficult choice to make between the Badals husband-wife duo to nominate anyone of them in his Council of Ministers.
From Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could won just two seats — Bathinda and Ferozepur — out of the total 10 it contests in alliance with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), which has two MPs from the three seats in its share.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal, who won from Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat, is set to enter the Parliament after over a decade, while his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal has scored a hattrick in a closely-fought contest from Bathinda.
A section of senior party leaders are suggesting Sukhbir to represent the party at the Centre considering that he had earlier also served as the Union Minister. But another faction of the party leaders are of the view that party president’s presence is required in the State to look after the affairs, especially with several by-elections lining up in the near future.
And then, there are three senior party leaders who are representing the SAD in the Rajya Sabha — Naresh Gujral, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, and Balwinder Singh Bhunder—who may can also be opted for being the part of the Modi’s Cabinet-II.
SAD is the BJP’s one of the oldest allies. Despite having just two seats in its kitty, against other strong and well-heeled allies like Janta Dal (United), and Shiv Sena, which has 16 and 18 seats respectively, the Punjab’s regional party is set to get at least one cabinet berth.
BJP, especially Modi, has treated the SAD and its patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in high esteem. Publicly showing his personal and political respect, Modi has made sure senior Badal’s presence at the time of filing his nomination papers in Varanasi and touching his feet at several occasions.
Besides, Punjab is also important for the saffron party as this is, as of now, among the few states in the country where it has not unfolded its flag. Both neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have the BJP Governments, while the other nearby states of Delhi and Rajasthan has Congress governments, out of which Delhi is to go to polls in the near future.
Modi’s attempt has, over the years especially after SAD-BJP combine’s defeat in 2017 assembly elections, been to project issues related to Punjab and the Sikh community at the national level as a part of his election strategy. Be it the conviction in 1984 riots or the opening of Kartarpur corridor or Punjab being a border state.
Moreover, the saffron party is also aware of the fact that it has to bank on the Akali Dal to keep its ship afloat on Punjab as it has negligible presence in the state’s rural pockets. If that is not enough, it did not have a political leader, tall enough to represent the party in the state. It is happy to play the second fiddle to the SAD.
Only recently, the outgoing Union Minister Harsimrat had indicated that she is “not keen” to be the part of the Union Cabinet again, and instead wanted to raise the state-specific issues “along with my husband” in the Parliament, maintaining that even Sukhbir did not want to join any Ministry at the Centre.
Her statement has given air to the speculations that the party may try to appease the unhappy Taksali (traditional) Akalis by pushing the name of any of the Rajya Sabha members. It is believed that the party may make an attempt to win over Dhindsa, who had raised a banner of revolt against the party, especially against the party chief questioning his style of functioning.
Sources told The Pioneer that the party may recommend Harsimrat’s name for the Cabinet, while Sukhbir would look after the party affairs back home.
SOM PARKASH MAY GET CABINET BERTH
After replacing his bête noire Vijay Sampla as party nominee from Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency, the newly-elected MP Som Parkash may also replace him in the Union Cabinet.
A former bureaucrat, Parkash is the first-time MP, representing the reserved constituency of Hoshiarpur. It has been learnt that the state party leadership is pushing Parkash’s name to be included in the Union Cabinet as a much-need push as a reward for the saffron brigade in Punjab which has succeeded in winning two out of three seats.
Besides, the party has also increased its vote share as compared to the previous polls.