For the 101-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the second oldest party in India after the Congress, the 2022 elections is a test of its resilience. The party finished third in the 2017 elections, for the first time in its history. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who helped the party stay in power for two consecutive terms from 2007 to 2017, eyes a triumphant return this time. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Badal speaks about the SAD’s key challenges and future prospects.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. Whom do you consider as your main opponent?
I don’t think there is any main opponent to the SAD. It is a multi-cornered fight in which we will get the majority.
Q. What are the main issues that you are focusing on?
The main issue is corruption by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi who has looted Punjab in a few months by misusing police power. The SAD has been the party of Punjab. Other parties which are putting up a multi-cornered fight are remote-controlled from Delhi. Look at the Congress, it did worse to Punjab and the Sikhs, and its remote control is with Sonia Gandhi. Look at the Aam Aadmi Party, its governance model has failed in Delhi, and it survives on fake advertisements and corruption. Its remote control, too, is in Delhi. How could such parties take up issues of the people of Punjab? The biggest issue is Punjab’s waters. The Congress took away Punjab’s water and distributed it to other states because of which our farmlands are becoming deserts. The AAP says Delhi also needs Punjab’s waters. How could these parties speak for Punjab? The SAD is the only party that represents Punjab and takes up the issues of Punjab.
Q. Why is the SAD pitting Bikram Singh Majithia against Navjot Singh Sidhu?
After becoming the state Congress president, Navjot Singh Sidhu has been thinking as if he has become a super powerful, de facto chief minister. With Channi by his side, he has been thinking that he could use this power against the SAD by following the Pakistan model. Sidhu is a self-destructive instrument who is going to finish the Congress in Punjab. He will face such a defeat that he will not think of fighting elections again.
Q. Former chief minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal is contesting elections at the age of 96. What message does it give to people?
Sardar Parkash Singh Badal is a stalwart. He has indisputably protected communal harmony of Punjab at all costs, and for that reason he had to serve more than 16 years as a political prisoner in independent India. Name another leader who has made such sacrifice. He is the leader of Punjab, and particularly of Punjabi farmers. He has stood for Punjab and has fought tyrannical rule.
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Q. Now that the farm laws are withdrawn, will you return to the National Democratic Alliance?
The SAD is a regional party and represents the people of Punjab. We will represent and deliver promises, demands and aspirations of Punjab. There is no question of returning to any alliance.
Q. You once said the SAD drew inspiration from Mamata Banerjee’s victory in West Bengal, regarding how a regional party could take on a national party.
Punjab has its own distinct identity. It has its own aspirations. Punjab is a country by itself. But we have to grow. Punjab does not have its own capital. Which other state in India does not have its own capital?
Punjab’s waters were forcibly taken away by the Congress and riparian rights have not been restored. At every point, Punjab has been discriminated against by the Centre. Name another state which has suffered so much. We faced partition; the Akal Takht was attacked by tanks; genocide was unleashed upon us. But no one has been punished yet. On the economic front, neighbouring states are given tax holidays to ensure that our industries move there.
On the one hand, Punjab has to deal with a hostile border, drug menace and a proxy war by Pakistan, while on the other hand, the Central government wants to make Punjab vulnerable and take control over the state. Punjab does not need Delhi-centric parties. Punjab needs the party that can lead Punjabis and fulfil the aspirations of Punjabis. Remote-controlled parties are not the solution to Punjab.