IN PUNJAB, AMARINDER HAS A LONG WAY TO GO

The Congress swept to power due to voters’ fatigue with the Badal’s long rule. It has been a sticky first year for Captain Amarinder with little and slow progress on the big promises made in the manifesto. He makes up for his inaccessibility through a coterie style of functioning. However, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) may be out of power, but it is already holding rallies fancily named, ‘Pol Khol’. Amidst all this, Amarinder’s firmness on his ‘No Vendetta’ stance is surprising. Overall, the drug menace has not been fully curbed yet, suicides of farmers continue and debt remains a concern. The silver lining, if any, has been the zero tolerance approach of the Captain on elements wanting to disturb peace. LJ Singh