Punjab’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal constituted a disciplinary committee comprising senior party men to help resolve growing differences between deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and finance minister Manpreet Badal, the son and nephew of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Viewed widely as the beginning of a long expected succession struggle, the war of words between the two cousins had recently assumed a pitch that even a personal intervention by chief minister Badal, who is currently in hospital after a fall, could not stem.
Publicly ridiculing the deputy CM, finance minister Manpreet Badal has been avidly advocating the withdrawal of subsidies, including free power to farmers, and stricter fiscal discipline to avoid getting into a debt trap.
Diametrically opposed to his own party and the state government, the finance minister made matters worse by admitting his proposals were in line with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s suggestion and purported assurance on the waiving of nearly half of Punjab’s Rs 70,000-crore debt.
Interestingly, both state chief secretary S.C. Aggarwal and the chief minister’s office have denied the very existence of any such offer from New Delhi.
Castigated at a recent core committee meeting for not adhering to the Akali Dal’s line on popular subsidies as well as publicly defying deputy CM Sukhbir Badal’s position as the party president, Mr Manpreet Badal told a new conference he was “hurt, upset, angry and resentful” and even offered to step down.
Evidently irritated with his once favourite nephew’s obstinacy, chief minister Badal was forced issue a statement from his hospital bed wherein without actually naming Manpreet Badal, he warned that “indiscipline would no longer be tolerated.”
This has now been followed up with the announcement of the high-level disciplinary committee in what is clearly meant as another warning for the maverick finance minister.