‘Modi vs Who will be the key issue in 2019’
Akali Dal patriarch feels a grand alliance of Oppn parties will show fissures sooner or later, but says the BJP should make more of an effort to win over minorities
At 90, Parkash Singh Badal may have passed on the mantle of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to his son and heir-apparent Sukhbir Singh Badal, but the Akali patriarch remains the face and fulcrum of the regional party’s long-standing alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Politically agile and astute as ever, the five-time Punjab chief minister spoke to , in his native village Badal, on national politics, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Modi factor, and minority outreach, among other issues. Edited excerpts:
Ramesh Vinayak
Mr. Modi is working very hard. The Opposition has no leader yet to match him. People will judge a leader on whether he can handle and run the country. I’m sure the voter will give Modi-ji another five years, whether the BJP tally goes up or down. To his credit, the Prime Minister has elevated India both in the eyes of his countrymen and the world. One can’t predict that. But it’s certain that the BJP will be able to form the next government. There is still a lot of time to go. Politics is not a formula. It is all about groundswell. It is difficult to gauge the mood of the people. Look at how the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) unexpectedly rode a wave in Punjab in 2014 and got four MPS who had nothing to do with politics. When there is a wave, no one looks at faces. Rahul. He has a long way to go. The Congress has shrunk and the Gandhi family’s charisma has faded. The Congress lacks leadership and can’t look beyond the Gandhis. The foremost is who will be Prime Minister. A leader who can take the country forward -that’s the only issue that will matter. In that sense, it will be ‘Modi vs Who?’ It remains a two-way friendship... ( laughs). I won’t comment further. The BJP should take along those allies who have stood by it. Those Bombay wale (Shiv Sena) are still not clear (on continuing with the NDA). But the BJP’S maximum effort should be to stick with the old allies. Our relations with the BJP are not transactional. We are not with them to get posts of governor or positions of power. Ours is an alliance of hearts and minds. We have steadfastly been with the BJP since 1996 and will continue to do so. I have always told the BJP leaders that you should take Muslims and Christians along. A government is supposed to reach out to all communities. Where is our shortcoming? Why are they (Christians and Muslims) not coming along? Their (the BJP’S) view is that they don’t come to our fold. I say, if you show love, even animals can be won over. Once you form a government, you don’t belong to a community or a party, but to the entire country. You have to respect all religious and cultural diversities. Thodi si toh hai (There is a little).
It all depends on actions. You can’t say, ‘Oh! They are not going to vote for us’. A political party should continue its efforts to win over the confidence of all communities. You have to take everybody along. In Punjab, the Akali Dal gave assembly tickets to 10 Hindus and many of them won. That strengthened our communal harmony. It will be difficult to succeed through this approach. Such a gamble works once in a while. You can’t run this country without secularism. Communal amity and inclusiveness are non-negotiable principles of our democracy. We have to work a lot harder. We need to step up our communication and connect with the people. People are not satisfied with the Captain Amarinder Singh government. The Modi magic should work for us in Punjab. The key question is going to be: Who will be the next prime minister? Modi has no challenger. His diplomatic outreach, surgical strikes, and hike in minimum support price (MSP) of crops will work to the NDA’S advantage. It’s a positive step but the MSP hike alone doesn’t mean an end to farmers’ woes. The government must ensure that the crops are actually bought at the MSP so that farmers get the benefit. There is no one-shot solution to the farming crisis. There has to be a road map to raise farmers’ incomes through allied vocations and skilling. A couple of states permit the cultivation of poppy. Cultivators produce more than the government-permitted quota and smuggle it into other states. There should be an allparty meeting to discuss this (allowing sale of opium). If the government can’t stop hard drugs, the next best thing is to minimise them. This is a part of the Congress government’s politics of vendetta. The aim is to defame the Akalis. How can the Akali Dal, which has a history of being at the forefront of fighting for religious rights of the Sikhs, be blamed for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib? We don’t expect a fair report. The confidence of the people. I have treated the party like my mother. Even while disagreeing on critical issues such as the 1985 Rajiv-longowal Accord (Punjab Accord), I remained a loyal soldier. Unfortunately, politics today is all about power. In the good old days, when I started my career, social commitment was the dominant theme. Now it’s greed for power and money.
It will be difficult to succeed through this approach (of polarisation). Such a gamble works once in a while. You can’t run this country without secularism. Communal amity and inclusiveness are nonnegotiable principles of our democracy.