The coming Assembly election in Punjab will be an interesting battle to watch. The fight is no longer between the traditional rivals, the Congress and the BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party is the new and potent entrant
After Uttar Pradesh, the Punjab Assembly poll next month will be the most keenly watched. Opinion polls predict mixed results. An India Today-Axis survey brings cheers to the Congress, predicting a comeback, with the party winning 56 -62 seats. It predicts the Aam Admi Party emerging as the second largest party with 36 to 41 in the 117-member Assembly. The ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine, which is bidding for power for a third consecutive time, could be reduced to18 to 22 seats. The BSP, which commands sizeable Dalit votes in the state, may bag one to four seats.
Giving a contradictory picture, a January ABP-CSDS survey, predicts the Akali Dal-BJP combine topping the electoral chart. The graph of AAP has slid to 12-18, whereas the Congress is projected to be a close first runner-up. The survey predicts 50-58 seats for BJP-Akali; 41-49 seats for Congress. In the 2012 poll, the SAD got 56 seats while its coalition partner, the BJP, won 12; the Congress got 46 seats. In the lok Sabha poll, the SAD and AAP got four seats each while the Congress won three. The BJP, despite the Modi wave, won only two seats.
The election scene in Punjab is interesting. For decades, the fight had been between the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress, but with the entry of AAP, there will be a triangular fight this time. With the anti-incumbency staring it in its face, the ruling coalition faces a huge challenge. It is battling a deep agrarian crisis which has led to indebtedness of about Rs 60,000 crore, according to some experts. There are also financial problems.
The AAP’s campaign hopes to tap the unrest and anxieties of the farmers, youth, women and marginalised sections. The caste factor also counts. According to the 2011 Census, the upper castes form 41 per cent while the Dalits are 31.94 per cent; OBCs comprise 22 per cent. Despite the large number of Dalits, the BSP did not do well. The SAD has won over a considerable section among the Dalits.
Why is the AAP contesting all seats in PunjabIJ First of all, the party wants to project itself as an alternative where only the two national parties dominate the poll scene. Second, the four seats it got in the 2014 lok Sabha poll have encouraged the AAP to expand. Third, the AAP is targeting the Punjab urban segments. Fourth, although it seemed to be in a position to win Punjab last year, that early advantage has petered out. It also lacks local leaders of stature and a Punjabi identity. Although it may have lost sizeable support among the urban, educated middle classes, its appeal in rural areas, especially among the youth and peasantry, remains largely intact. But it is not a cakewalk as the AAP has two major challenges – the first is to set its house in order and the second is to reach out to more number of people.
While the Congress has nominated former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh as its chief ministerial face, the Akali-BJP combine has the incumbent Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as its face. While Badal is 89 years old, the Captain is close to 75 and has declared that this would be his last electoral battle. There is no doubt that Badal too, if the combine wins, will anoint his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, as Chief Minister. Interestingnly, the AAP has not declared any chief ministerial face, although many believe that Kejriwal himself would take over if the party does well.
The Congress is depending on anti incumbency and the Captain’s charisma. But it is beset with problems. The internal rumblings refuse to die down even after the strong backing for the Captain from the leadership. There are factional fights and these could get worse after the tickets are announced.
Issues are many to attack the Badal Government. The drug menace is one such. It came into more focus after the ban on the film Udta Punjab, which depicted the drug problem in the State. According to an AIIMS survey conducted last year in collaboration with Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, drugs worth Rs7,500 crore are traded every year and about 1. 24 crore people in 10 districts use hard drugs.
The third is law and order and the fouth is unemployment. The unemployment rate is 7.7 per cent, mostly in rural Punjab. The Congress and the AAP have promised jobs and unemployment allowance to woo the young voters. Almost half the electorate in Punjab is young.
last but not least, the Punjab-Haryana water dispute has flared up ahead of the election, with the Supreme Court declaring as ‘unconstitutional’ the 2004 law of Punjab that unilaterally scrapped the 1981 agreement over sharing of Ravi and Beas waters through the Satluj-Yamuna link (SYl) canal.
Well aware that it is on a weak wicket, the Shiromani Akali Dal is going all out to shore up support, focussing on its core constituency of rural Sikhs, with emphasis on the Sikh identity and Badal’s achievements. S
With the changing election scene every day, it is anybody’s guess as to who will form the next Government in the State.
(The writer is a political commentator and syndicated columnist)