In Punjab’s Lambi, three Badals prepare for poll battle
If there is any political battle which is worth noticing in the overall political war between the Congress and the Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab, it is without any doubt in Lambi, where chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is in a triangular contest with his two brothers.
Paramilitary forces and the police have sealed the Lambi constituency as they check every vehicle entering or leaving the constituency for liquor and money, although a case of home-made liquor being brewed to lure voters has been reported from the constituency on Wednesday.
The stakes are high here, at least for the chief minister, who is facing old political opponent and first cousin Mahesh Inder Singh Badal of the Congress. However, the presence of the estranged brother of Mr Badal, Gurdass Singh Badal, as a Sanja Morcha candidate has definitely made things difficult for the chief minister. Even in the last Assembly elections the victory margin of Mr Badal was not very high. He managed to defeat Mr Mahesh Inder Badal of the Congress by merely 9,000 votes.
Even though the chief minister has never lost an election in his entire political career, but in this election he has been besieged and confined to his own constituencies by the presence of his one-time trusted lieutenant and younger brother Gurdass Badal in the fray. Mr Gurdass Badal used to be the political manger of the chief minister till the last election. However, thinks changed when his son Manpreet Singh Badal formed the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP).
Surprisingly, Badal, the ancestral village of all three main candidates, in Lambi, is the place from where they derive their surname Badal, even here there are people who openly speak about not voting for the chief minister this time.
“Eaat ki tan Mahesh Inderji vote pauni hai. Mere bude ne hamsa he Badal sahab nu vote pai, par is bar nahi puani (This time we are going to vote for Mahesh Inder. My old man always voted for Badal sahab, but not this time),” says Salim Khan a small time motor mechanic in Badal village.
Apart from the palatial house of Mr Parkash Singh Badal and havelis of other Badals, this village is not very different from other villages of the region. The Kinnow-laden trees dotting both sides of the road, belong to the Badals, apart from everything else worth any value. Even though the people of the village have nothing personal against senior Badal, but they are peeved about the coterie culture around Badals, which makes it difficult for the common people to reach to them with their genuine grouse.
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