As Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has got embroiled into a confrontation with the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) leading to his summoning by the Akal Takht, it reminds of other former non-Akali chief ministers like Giani Zail Singh, Darbara Singh and Capt Amarinder Singh, who also tried to dabble in and interfere into the Panthic politics.
Panthic politics has always been too tempting for the non-panthic politicians to resist. Every non-Akali chief minister has tried to put his finger in the panthic pie. The dark decade of terrorism in Punjab was primarily because of the ‘panthic interests’ of some Congress leaders, who wanted to weaken the Shiromani Akali Dal by trying to create an alternative. Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, originally a preacher, exploited the situation to his own advantage. He not only managed to take the panthic but the entire political space of Punjab that ended in the great tragedy of Operation Bluestar and subsequent tragic events.
The ‘panthic temptation’ in Punjab politics is primarily because the opponents of the Akali Dal feel at an unfair disadvantage in the political equation, with the Akalis assured of getting the panthic votes. The Congress could never expect to get the panthic votes and not at least after the Operation Bluestar. Till the coming over of the Aam Aadmi Party on Punjab’s political scene, the Akalis felt safe and assured about the support from the panthic sections of the population over which it had complete monopoly.
The AAP, however, broke that monopoly. The people who were disillusioned with the Akali Dal but were not prepared to vote for the Congress on moral grounds due to Operation Bluestar found a ‘cathartic alternative’ in the AAP. The Akali Dal’s decline is directly proportional to the rise of the AAP in Punjab. When the AAP got marginal success in Punjab in 2017, Akali Dal suffered marginal setbacks. As the AAP swept the Punjab elections in 2022, the Akali Dal was almost completely wiped out, having been reduced to just three seats in a house of 117. This was the lowest score for the Akalis ever.
Also read: Akal Takht summons Mann over remarks on Sikh bodies
As the Akalis are looking forward to recovery and there are visible signs of their political comeback, which may not necessarily translate into winning elections, not at least at this stage, the AAP could fathom a challenge to its political dominance. The AAP government reopened an old case of the theft of the ‘swaroops’ (copies of the holy Guru Granth Sahib), apparently in the hope that it can be used to build up public opinion against the SGPC which, it claimed, took no action. Targeting SGPC means targeting the SAD. This is again fraught with the risk of being seen as interfering in the Sikh affairs.
Some people within the ruling establishment did probably think that reopening the case of missing ‘swaroops’ might eventually lead to the Akali and Sukhbir’s doorsteps. That appears to be a highly unlikely proposition. First, the case is quite old and was first reported in 2015. Second, the missing ‘swaroops’ obviously might have landed in the hands of the devout Sikhs only. Suggesting and establishing that the issue of missing ‘swaroops’ was related with the sacrilege is highly unlikely.
Chief Minister Mann is not known for holding back his views and opinions, not at least against his political opponents, whether the Congress, Akalis and to some extent against the BJP as well. As the Akalis have started posing a serious challenge to the ruling party, Mann decided to take them head on. In the process he ended up saying many things, which the Akal Takht has taken exception to. Mann has now been summoned to the Akal Takht, only second Chief Minister in history of Punjab after Surjit Singh Barnala.
Mann, unlike Amarinder in 2002, does not have any backing of any panthic group. Although some of the breakaway Akali Dal leaders are seen to be close to him, none of those leaders enjoys the same stature as Gurcharan Singh Tohra enjoyed in 2002. Amarinder had used the feud between Tohra and Parkash Singh Badal to wrest control of the SGPC by unsuccessfully trying to get Tohra’s man elected to the position.
Amarinder had almost completed the process with his government using all the “influences”—coercion and persuasion—not unknown in Punjab, to make the SGPC members vote for Tohra’s candidate. The last-minute intervention in the form of “advice” from the Congress high command prevented Amarinder from affecting the change of control.
Having felt completely cornered by then chief minister Amarinder, Badal, who enjoyed cross party influence, used the good offices of Inder Kumar Gujral to approach Sonia Gandhi for asking Amarinder to keep away from panthic politics. Gujral reportedly reminded Gandhi about the tragic and disastrous consequences that Congress interference in panthic politics has led to, with Indira Gandhi losing her life.
Mann does not appear to be so ambitious to wrest the control of the SGPC from the Akalis/ Badals. He is surely serious about not letting the rural peasantry consisting mainly of Jatt Sikhs to return to the Akali Dal. The same constituency saw the AAP win a sweeping mandate in 2022. The AAP is staring at the brutal fact that the same constituency is now slipping away from it and returning to the Akalis. So, he raised his stakes and directly started confronting the Akalis on their panthic turf. The task is indeed challenging, but Mann does not seem to be prepared to beat a retreat. The AAP-Akali confrontation is likely to aggravate further. Mann does not seem to mind taking the risk. The Akalis are not averse to confrontation either, more so when they have nothing to lose.
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