The crisis-ridden Shiromani Akali Dal has taken a complete U-turn on former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, finally acknowledging him as a great icon of the community. Dr Singh, however, remains a national icon, and among one of the best Prime Ministers India has had. But that does not deny the Sikh community the right to own its proud son, whose abilities were acknowledged globally.
A delegation of the Akali Dal led by its acting president Balwinder Singh Bhunder paid homage to Dr Singh after his demise at his residence. This was apparently in response to the massive public sentiment of the Sikh community which, outrightly identified with him, as a great son the community will always feel proud of.
But the Akali Dal always opposed Dr Singh while he was the Prime Minister of the country heading the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. Even the majority of the Sikh community that time identified him more with the Congress than with itself.
After the UPA government went ahead with the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal in 2008, the left parties, including the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India withdrew support to the UPA government. The UPA government was reduced to a minority.
The Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance opposition put up a strong challenge against the government. At one point of time, it looked like the survival of the UPA government, already reduced to the minority, might well lose the confidence vote in the parliament.
The Akali Dal had eight MPs in the Lok Sabha. Given its claims of being a panthic party, it could have caused a moral dilemma to the party to oppose a ‘Sikh’ Prime Minister. However, Parkash Singh Badal, who at that time was the Punjab Chief Minister and Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal and an MP himself, decided to go along with the BJP-led opposition NDA and voted against the confidence motion.
The party had an option of, at least, abstaining during the confidence motion, which it did not. One of the senior Akali MPs, Sukhdev Singh Libra, who represented Ropar (reserved) parliamentary constituency that time, flouted the party whip and abstained from voting. He was expelled from the party. He later joined the Congress and contested from the newly carved Fatehgarah Sahib parliamentary constituency and won. However, ahead of the 2014 General Elections he resigned from the Congress and rejoined the Akali Dal.
It was a keenly contested confidence vote, where some of the both, the ruling as well as the opposition MPs cross-voted. IN the final result, the government won the confidence vote with 275 in favour and 256 against. Ten members abstained from voting.
The Akali leadership did face some criticism that time for opposing Dr Singh, the first Sikh Prime Minister of the country. However, the party was too strong to feel affected in any way by any criticism. It was in power in Punjab and had a strong alliance with the BJP, which had 19 members in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The Akalis were too much dependent on the BJP in Punjab. Dependence on the BJP for the survival of its government in Punjab was also one of the reasons for the party to go along the opposition alliance, of which it was a part for a long time.
Moreover, Parkash Singh Badal enjoyed a quite cordial relationship with Dr Singh, who would never decline anything that Badal sought for the state of Punjab. At times, Punjab Congress leaders felt annoyed and disappointed with Dr Singh that he was too obliging towards Badal and his populist schemes and never refused anything to him.
But so much has changed for the Akalis since 2008. 16 years is a long time in politics. The party is not even a pale shadow of what it was then. Its existence is at stake. Realising the Sikh sentiment towards Dr Singh, who is seen as a great community icon, having been the Prime Minister for ten years of the world’s largest democracy, does indeed make the community feel proud.
The Akalis could not afford to commit the same “mistake” that they committed 16 years ago, a second time. That time they could get away with it, this time, it would not have been possible, although the party is at such a stage that it has not been left with anything much that it can be apprehensive of losing.
The party may not have acknowledged Dr Singh, while he was the Prime Minister, but it has eventually recognized him as a great son of the soil of Punjab and also the community, which he indeed was.
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