The key of Sukhbir’s speedy rehabilitation

Welfare schemes like ‘Atta Daal’ and ‘Shagun’, investments in rural infrastructure and tight management over SGPC establishments gave the occasion unmatched rural attain. The rupture with the BJP, usually seen as a clear ideological break, is extra advanced. For many years, the Badals had an in depth and mutually useful relationship with the BJP— sharing governance, coordinating seat sharing and even aligning on many nationwide points.

It was a mutually useful association with the city Hindu BJP vote complementing the agricultural Akali votebank, which ensured that the Akalis shaped steady governments and the BJP acquired a share of the pie. It was solely underneath stress from the farmers’ protest and the realisation that their very own vote base was slipping away that the Badals walked out of the NDA in 2020.

On the identical time, the extra ruthless and pragmatic duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union dwelling minister Amit Shah determined to undermine the Akalis in the identical method they did the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. They poached Akali leaders, managed Sikh establishments exterior Punjab, made overtures to jathedars and expanded the BJP within the state.

Sukhbir’s rupture with BJP is much less about precept and extra about political survival. At present, that survival hangs by a thread. Sukhbir might have reclaimed the president’s chair, however his occasion’s future is much from safe. It stays locked out of city areas, the place the BJP has aggressively poached its base.

Within the countryside, it should cope with not simply AAP and Congress, but additionally a resurgent Panthic sentiment. The SGPC, a long-time Akali stronghold, has additionally change into a battlefield for legitimacy after the occasion’s clashes with the Akal Takht. Sukhbir’s technique now seems to be to revive ideological readability and re-establish the Akali Dal as Punjab’s sole regional voice.