Modi visit gives a new lease of life to beleaguered Akalis

KARTARPUR CORRIDOR, CONVICTIONS IN ’84 ANTISIKH RIOT CASES TAKE PUBLIC GLARE OFF BARGARI PROTEST, INFIGHTING IN SAD

CHANDIGARH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hour-long visit to Sukhbir Singh Badal’s house to attend a kirtan (prayer meeting) on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary recently came as a godsend for the beleaguered leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

On the backfoot since the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on the sacrilege incidents of 2015 and the Bargari Morcha protest, the narrative changed for the Badals with Modi’s visit on Gurpurb, a day after the Union cabinet announced the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Two back-to-back judgments in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases, which the SAD has been supporting, have given party leaders a much-needed breather and helped change public perception.

Modi sitting in the sangat at the residence of Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Delhi on November 23 not only silenced her husband Sukhbir’s detractors but also those doubting the Shiromani Akali DalBharatiya Janata Party alliance. It was perceived that the BJP would give the Akalis a cold shoulder after the party hit a rough patch with its perception, particularly among Sikhs, touching a low since the assembly poll defeat in 2017.

In his address, Modi said the opening of the corridor was happening with the blessings of Guru Nanak and will strengthen people to people contact.

He mentioned Parkash Singh Badal as his “source of inspiration” and put the spotlight on the Akali patriarch and fivetime chief minister of Punjab.

“We are two sides of a coin. The Akali Dal and the BJP can’t be seen separately,” Sukhbir said after the prime minister’s visit, which breathed a new lease of life in the alliance.

“Modi’s visit has been beneficial for the Badals and viceversa. Though small, but the Akalis are an important ally for the BJP. The Akalis strengthen the saffron party’s secular credentials. The ideological alliance is rooted in political necessity and is long lasting,” says Pramod Kumar, director, Institute of Development and Communication.

“The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre chose the right path in dealing with the Kartarpur corridor issue. It gave due credit to the Akali Dal and nominated Harsimrat to represent the country along with another cabinet minister, Hardeep Puri, during the groundbreaking ceremony in Pakistan on November 28,” he said.

“There is no doubt that the message from Modi is clear. Our party represents Sikhs and he has done a great favour (on the Kartarpur Corridor,” said Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjit Singh GK, who is also the SAD’s Delhi president.

The 87 convictions in the antiSikh riots after a wait of more than three decades also came as a shot in the arm for the Akali leadership.