Sep 18, 2020
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigns from The Modi Govt yesterday night objecting to three farm bills, meant to replace three Ordinances notified in June. The events unfolded as farmers’ protest intensified in Punjab, which goes to polls in about 18 months.
· Her husband and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced her resignation
· Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from Modi Govt over farm bills
· Shiromani Akali Dal is eyeing a comeback in Punjab that goes to the polls in 18 months
Not Harsimrat Kaur but it was her husband Sukhbir Singh Badal, who made the announcement on her behalf of her resignation from the Modi cabinet in Parliament house.
It came as a declaration as to who was the boss in an attempt to convey a message to the protesting farmers in Punjab. The Reason yet to be known, the curious aspect of the announcement was that it was not about quitting the alliance which was anyways to happen in near future.
Sukhbir Badal concluded his speech in the Lok Sabha saying, “I want to make an announcement that our minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal will resign from cabinet.” And she did so a little bit later.
Now the question which stands here is, did she actually resign over the three farm bills?
The three bills which now become controversial, are lying at the table of Parliament, not because of their uniqueness but to complete a legislative formality. This formality may not be completed if the BJP fails to gather enough support in the Rajya Sabha.
These bills have been brought in Parliament to replace three Ordinances that were notified in first week of June. For three months, what is proposed in the three bills carries the law of the land.
Moreover, the Ordinances did not come up suddenly in June. They were in the pipeline for long during which the Shiromani Akali Dal did not make a noticeable protest or threaten to quit.
So what brings this action now?
This action is the immediate reason because of the intensifying protests in Punjab by the farmers. Though not all farmers’ bodies are protesting against these bills and some groups – particularly those from Maharashtra – are vocal in their support for these bills.
While Sukhbir Badal said these bills will “destroy” all the good work done by successive governments in Punjab, the supporters have termed the same legislations as “the first step towards financial freedom for farmers”.
The protest is largely limited to Punjab and Haryana and in Punjab, the ruling Congress party has opposed the bills and there is growing understanding that the Shiromani Akali Dal is losing its political ground among the farming community in the state.
Punjab will be holding Polls within couple of years. It is here that The BJP has shed its reluctance to take centre stage in Punjab’s politics. The BJP has been a junior partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab.
Politically analyzed, the BJP contests 23 seats in Punjab while the Shiromani Akali Dal bags its candidates in 94 out of 117 assembly constituencies. Now, the BJP Govt is tactfully pushing for equal share staking claim for 59 seats in the alliance leaving 58 to the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is the oldest partner of the BJP in NDA.
This upheaval has come in the year when the Shiromani Akali Dal completes 100 years of its foundation in December 2020. The affiliation between the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP has been on rough waters lately.
The Shiromani Akali Dal was finding its way and making its presence felt in Delhi, where it wanted to contest the assembly polls on its own symbol in February this year. The BJP did not agree and the Shiromani Akali Dal was disappointed to be kept out of the Delhi Assembly polls.
The two concerned parties had differences during the Haryana Assembly election last year too. In fact, in a couple of constituencies, the Shiromani Akali Dal leaders campaigned against the BJP candidates creating some discrepancies. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal was also critical over the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which the BJP defended with all its might.
Facing troubles with the BJP Govt in realizing its aspirations within the NDA for quite some time and finding itself almost alienated in fast approaching of Polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal had to begin by recovering political ground that it has lost in the state. A resignation from the central ministry gives a high optimism for the party supporters to go back to people and build its profile afresh for 2022 Punjab Assembly election.