Channi govt faces new challenge as the scene shifts to Punjab after historic success of farm struggle

 

 

 

Punjab’s electoral discourse getting focused on scheduled caste and Hindu domains

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

Punjab electoral discourse is witnessing a characteristic shift from the Sikh religio-political dominated discourse to the scheduled castes and Hindu domains based electoral discourse.

Punjab’s political discourse has always been dominated by the Sikh religio-political discourse historically that impacts the electoral discourse too.

Efforts are now on to work out new permutations and combinations to construct differently designed strategies as reaction to the accidental decision of the Congress to replace Capt Capt Amarinder Singh with Charanjit Singh Channi from the marginalised sections whose main thrust has been to present himself as common man’s chief minister. That strategy worked initially but now distortions have started cropping up with cases like brutal lathicharge on protesters at Mansa at a function attended by the Chief Minister.

The success of the more than a year long massive farmers struggle has added a new dimension in the electoral calculations of the competing political formations. Contradictions are surfacing in the process, especially in the Congress strategy.

The Channi government, apparently to further consolidate the scheduled caste domain, issued a circular seeking data on surplus land with the big farmers. However, virtually within hours, the earlier circular was superseded by another one on December 11 staying action on the first one. These two circulars were issued by the revenue department.

The farm workers have been demanding allocation of surplus land and this demand has been supported by Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) too. The farm workers are mostly from the scheduled caste sections. The SC section includes the Sikhs, the Hindus and the Adi-dharmis.

The landed Jats would not like to part with any such lands and moreover, there is not much on the record. The main issue that the scheduled castes, especially in Malwa belt, have been fighting for is the share in the cultivable shamlat lands auctioned by the panchayats but are grabbed by the non-SCs. These are the contradictions of the agrarian society but the aware sections are now claiming their rights.

The Congress government has been caught on the wrong foot on the issue of issuing these two circulars in haste.

The Congress is aiming at cementing the SC consolidation but this situation might trigger polarisation at another level in the electoral domain. Much would depend upon the other two stake holders that include the Shiromani Akali Dal followed by the Aam Aadmi Party. There is the BJP-Captain too to add fourth dimension.

AAP, however, has been avoiding every issue that is identified with Punjab historically and has ideological rooting. AAP otherwise is non-ideologcal party subscribing to the symbolic Hindu exhibitionism.

Punjab is one state that is associated with strong ideological construct and this construct is the identity of its dominant political discourse.

Demographic divisions are not that sharp in Punjabi society whose basic characteristic is composite culture. However, in the electoral discourse, the parties aim at targeting what is known as the Hindu vote bank that at time used to be identified with the Congress but the Akali Dal managed to penetrate in this domain earlier. The earlier alliance of the Akali Dal with the Hindu dominated Bharatiya Janata Party had nothing much to do with that penetration.

With the Channi government facing several challenges, Punjab has entered a crucial phase days before the elections are announced by the election commission.

Some of the farm leaders after return from Delhi have already made it clear that their next target after success of the Delhi Morcha is the Punjab government to get the promises fulfilled that the Congress had made in its 2017 election manifesto. The main issue concerning the farmers was the total loan waiver that remains to be implemented fully.

Now the farm workers too are demanding loan waiver.

It is time for Channi government to face the heat.

The December 17 meeting between the farmer leaders and the Punjab government would be crucial in this background.

It is interesting that while the farmers would not like to part with surplus lands, if any, the farmer unions are supporting the unions of the farm workers. This support is reciprocal.

 The BKU (Ugrahan) supported the 4-hour rail blockade at nine places in Punjab today called by Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union.