The Story Of The Return Of Prakash Singh Badal
Prakash Singh Badal has been in politics for over four decades now and he has already spent nearly 18 years in jail. He became the Chief Minister twice, but on both occasions his governments were dismissed.
But then the 69-year-old Akali leader, who has been without power for 17 years, believes in never say die. Badals father, Raghuraj Singh, was a rich landlord of the famous Malwa belt of the border state. After school Badal joined the prestigious F C College at Lahore, from where he completed his graduation. He began his political career from his native village, where he was elected sarpanch.
Badal was elected to the Punjab Assembly on a Congress ticket for the first time in 1957. He soon left the Congress to join the Akali Dal.
The real breakthrough in Badals political career came in 1969, when, at 42, he became the youngest Chief Minister of his home state. His mentor, Sant Fateh Singh, then president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC), also known as the parliament of Sikhs, played a key role in Badals elevation as Chief Minister. Observers say Badals maiden innings as Chief Minister was good, if not perfect. He survived for more than two years and did some commendable work in the areas of agriculture and rural development. His first innings as Chief Minister ended in 1971, when he was succeeded by Zail Singh and a Congress government. With the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, the fall of the Congress began in Punjab.
Badals second innings as Chief Minister began in 1977 after the Akali-Janata Party combine won a massive mandate, winning 87 assembly seats. Badal first contested for the Lok Sabha during the Janata wave and served as Union agriculture minister in the Morarji Desai cabinet briefly before returning to serve his home state.
His second term as Chief Minister lasted nearly three years. He really put his heart on economic development of the state. This time, the concentration was on development of infrastructure, particularly link roads. He also took bold steps to improve rural education and health. But in 1980, with the return of the Congress regime at the Centre in the wake of the fall of the Janata regime, Badals government in Punjab too fell, thanks to Indira Gandhi.
The Congress again returned in Punjab with Darbara Singh as Chief Minister. It was during this period that the border state witnessed the birth of terrorism and the rise of Bhindranwale, a clergy turned politician. The dark days in Punjab lasted more than a decade - around 15 years, to be more precise.
Badal, in his wisdom, preferred to lie low for many years. He virtually went into hibernation during the peak of terrorism. His critics point out, rightly so, that Badal never condemned the terrorists. He maintained his golden silence. But one thing goes to his credit that unlike a majority of the top-ranking Akali leaders like Gurcharan Singh Tohra and many others, Badal never supported Bhindranwale. The reality is that the two couldnt stand each other.
The Akalis returned in Punjab in 1985, in the wake of the signing of the Rajiv-Longowal accord as a solution to the lingering Punjab crisis. Badal contested the assembly elections and won hands down and his party secured 73 seats in the 117-member house. A majority of MLAs were with Badal but the then party president Harchand Singh Longowal preferred Surjit Singh Barnala to head the Akali government. Badal accept the verdict of the party president but decided not to join the Barnala government as deputy Chief Minister. For nearly two years, the spotlight remained focussed on Barnala for relentlessly fighting the terrorists but peace did not return to Punjab. Badal preferred to lie low during Barnalas regime. He neither sulked nor created any problems for Barnala. Two years later, the Barnala government was also dismissed as there was no respite from terrorism.
From 1987 to 1992, Punjab remained Presidents rule. The Centre tried many governors - Arjun Singh, S S Ray and many others but all failed in restoring peace and normalcy in the border state. Even during this period, Badal maintained his consistent political line - holding the Congress responsible for the birth and rise of terrorism in the state. He also remained persistent in demanding more powers to the state and a permanent solution to the lingering political problems of Punjab, including the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and a fair share of river waters to the state.
After the return of the Congress regime in Punjab in 1992 with Beant Singh as chief minister, peace and normalcy began returning to the border state. Badals favourite remark on this was: The Congress created terrorism in Punjab and now the Congress has removed terrorism. The Akalis have nothing to do with terrorism.
Meanwhile, Badal led the party to repeated victories in various by-elections as well as the SGPC polls. For the past couple of months, he has been projected as the next Chief Minister of Punjab. The prophecy has come true.