At the moment, it appears that Punjab politics is in a state of flux. All political parties, be it the ruling party or the Opposition, find themselves in disarray. Factionalism is rampant. With the Vidhan Sabha elections still two years away, the political leadership does not consider it necessary to stem the rot. The ruling Congress party as ever before is still plagued with factionalism. Captain Amarinder Singh became Chief Minister with a bang.

As soon as he took over the reins of the state, he launched a tirade against corruption. The Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment scam, arrest of Ravinder Paul Singh, Chairman of the PPSC followed by the arrest of Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his family members and launch of criminal proceedings against them and some of the erstwhile officers of the SAD-BJP Government gave an impression that the Chief Minister meant business. But with the passage of time, it seems that it is very difficult to cleanse the system.

Now the rigour of this tirade is not being felt. This may be due to the failings of the state government in the case of recruitment of DSPs under the sports quota and the auction of liquor vends. The high court intervened in both the cases. A feeling is growing among the masses that the state government has failed to check corruption. On the other hand, it is being alleged that the rates of bribery have appreciated.

However, whatever one might say, the bold stand taken by the Chief Minister in the case of sharing of river waters and annulment of all agreements on this issue and his participation in the celebrations of Sikh cenetentariess in a big way has earned him sympathy of the people. In fact, the Chief Minister has operated in the Akali Dal domain successfully. This remains his forte.

The other major achievement of the Amarinder Singh Government has been the efficient handling of the procurement of foodgrains during the past three years as there were no complaints from farmers on this score. Here again, the Chief Minister has beaten and bitten the SAD-BJP Government thus nullifying the claim of Mr Parkash Singh Badal as leader of the farmers.

On the organisational front, barring a fragile rapprochement between Captain Amarinder Singh and Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the organisation remains divided and dormant.

In the SAD, Mr Badal remains unchallenged. But it has to be accepted that there are rumblings at all levels. The traditional Akalis are the most dissatisfied lot. The urban Sikhs or non-Jat Sikhs who remained the most vocal sections among the Akalis and wielded influence in the party hierarchy find themselves ignored and sometimes treated shabbily. Added to this fact is Mr Badal’s patronisation of such elements which is resented by people and they refer to Bibi Jagir Kaur and Mr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia in this regard. Mr Badal has ignored the devout and the honest and has never allowed the rise of such people who could prove to be an asset to the Panthic hierarchy, allege senior traditional leaders.

A traditional devout Akali on the condition of anonymity observed that Mr Badal patronised only those who are typical sycophants and he said the situation in the Akali Dal is as was prevailing in the Congress during the ascendency of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Mr D.K. Baruah, the then president of the Congress used to say Indira is India and India is Indira. Similarly now Badal is Panth and Panth is Badal is the slogan in the Akali Dal. Within the SAD, there is no dearth of factions, might be that after sometime, these factions will become vocal and effective.