Politics has always made strange bed fellows and even stranger adversaries. Punjab may witness one such fight this time: chief minister Parkash Singh Badal could face his younger brother and long-time political associate Gurdas Singh Badal in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Mr Gurdas Badal is the father of Mr Manpreet Badal, who is now the leader of the third front in Punjab. Since his son’s expulsion from the Shiromani Akali Dal almost a year ago, he has declared many times that he would contest elections from the Lambi constituency, a pocket borough of the Badals.
The octogenarian brothers, who remained together in the rough and tumble for decades, are now political rivals. The reason is not very difficult to find. Brotherly love could not transcend the political ambitions of their sons.
When the ageing Parkash Singh Badal passed on the political reins to his son, now deputy CM of Punjab, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, there were dissenting voices made by Mr Manpreet Singh Badal, who was later expelled from the party. This decision resulted in growing distance between the senior Badal brothers.
Gurdas, who remained a backroom player in Akali politics, seems bitter, “It is my independent decision to prove my mettle to my elder brother. Sukhbir thinks we have no worth. I don’t need a certificate from anyone. I have nurtured Lambi and Gidderbaha areas for many years and people there will decide my fate.”
An emotionally charged Gurdas spoke of his close association with “Pash (Parkash Singh Badal)”. “Since our childhood, we never parted ways or had any disagreement but now the scenario has changed.”