Editorial: A resignation and many questions

On the face of it, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, and wife of the party’s chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, were against the Lok Sabha’s decision to pass two of the three farm Bills piloted by the Central government. The Bills, an attempt to introduce a measure of reform in a moribund agriculture sector, has been a point of contention in Punjab, with the Congress, headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, launching a fierce campaign against the proposed legislations.

The argument in Punjab and some Opposition-ruled States is that the Bills will pave the way for dismantling the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism. The Centre contends that the Bills are aimed at empowering farmers, by permitting them to sell their produce outside notified mandis to enter into contracts with private players for the sale of agricultural produce.

While there is no denying the unrest over the Bills, the reasons for Harsimrat Kaur’s resignation must be examined in the context of the larger relationship between the SAD and the BJP. Punjab goes to the polls in 2022 and there is already plenty of jockeying and positioning among the various parties to reap the maximum political harvest.

Punjab has the distinction of being about the only State in the north where the BJP has not grown into a sizeable force, and the party’s State unit contends this is a direct consequence of the contours of the alliance struck with the SAD. Under the existing arrangement, the BJP contests 23 of 117 Assembly seats and three of the 13 parliamentary seats, leaving the lion’s share to the SAD. The State unit has been clamouring that this needs revision, which is one source of the strain. As for the BJP, it has stymied the SAD’s ambitions of making a serious foray into Delhi, among other things.

The big question, of course, is whether the resignation is a part of a routine political tug of war against the backdrop of an impending Assembly election or a serious step towards a parting of ways. Given that the alliance has held since 1997, it is hard to say; the answer could well depend on the popular mood in Punjab in 2022 as the state heads for the polls. The Punjab Congress has looked at the resignation, as it has with the periodic outbreak of other tensions, with a cynical eye. Amarinder Singh has suggested that the SAD’s opposition to the Bills is political eyewash, a part of the drama to distance itself from unpopular legislation.

Moreover, if it was really serious, it would quit the NDA. The presence of the Aam Aadmi Party in the State throws another element in the political cocktail in the State. Who will mix with who and what will separate from what in this heady political brew will be known only as the election looms closer.