January 1997: Capt Amarinder Singh invites SAD leaders Parkash Singh Badal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra to Patiala’s Motibagh Palace for breakfast, to sound them out for an assembly ticket. They make polite noises of demurral and depart, leaving the captain hurt but determined to avenge the slight. On that day, the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala swore he would rule Punjab one day.
February 2002: Five years on, that vow is realised as the Congress rides to power on an anti-incumbency wave.winning 62 of the 116 seats in Punjab which went to the polls on February 13.
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance could only get 44 seats, with allbut three of them going to SAD. Independents got nine and CPI one in the 117member house.
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Elections was not held for Malout constituency due to the death of sittingSAD member Sujan Singh.
The captain, who rejoined the Congress under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership in October 1997 and becamePCC chief soon after, is the obvious choice for CM. The captain’s pilgrimage to power was assisted in no small measure by Badal’s misgovernance—one reason why so manySAD cabinet ministers lost. Corruption was rampant, the state bankrupt, nepotism was rife and the bureaucracy politicised. At one point, Amarinder had fumed: "Badal’s selling the family silver (state property) just to pay staff salaries. And taking a cut even there."
If the SAD managed a respectable tally in the assembly elections, it’s only because Badal retains his hold over Punjab’s peasantry. By ensuring 100 per cent procurement of foodgrains year after year and regular hikes in the minimum support price, he’s kept his rural constituency intact. The poll results also indicated that voters spurned the Panthic Morcha in favour of the "real" Akali Dal and that the Bahujan Samaj Party continues to be a marginal player.
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Amarinder gets a turban of thorns: he has to turn the state’s economy around while dealing with the contentious Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal issue. The Akalis, loose cannons when in the opposition, are already sharpening their swords—and Badal still controls the sgpc. And he has to beware of threats from within his partytoo which meets on Tuesday to decide the Chief Ministerial candidate.
Talking to reporters in Chandigarh he has expressed the hope that there wouldnot be any hurdle in choosing the leader. The CLP meeting would likely to beattended by senior party leaders Moti Lal Vora, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel andHari Prasad.
"Two main issues attracted the voters towards Congress -- corruption inthe Badal government and its non-governance," he said.
Asked if anti-incumbency factor had played any role in Congress' victory,Amarinder said "the factor seems to have gone in our favour." He saidthe new Congress government would revive the state's "shattered"economy and put Punjab on the road to development. Amarinder said otherpriorities of the government would be to look into "corruption in PunjabPublic Service Commission".
"Also, incumbent Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will have to explainhis assets amounting to Rs 3500 crore," he said.
SAD president Parkash Singh Badal declined to meet reporters who sought hisreaction on his party's performance.
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Commenting on Panthic Morcha's poor show, senior Morcha leader G S Tohra said"we did not have the required money which is needed to win anelection".
He said "strained" ties between his party and SAD could also haveplayed a role in their defeat.
In a complaint to the Election Commission, Tohra alleged the Commission haddeclared SAD candidate and Surjit Singh Barnala's son Gaganjit Singh's resultfrom Dhuri constituency in the seventh round itself.
"There were four more rounds to go so how could they declare him electedin the seventh round itself," Tohra said in his complaint which wasdismissed by the Commission as baseless.
