How Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s resignation changes political dynamics of Punjab

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Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s dramatic resignation from the Narendra Modi cabinet over the farm bills has a potential to change the political dynamics in Punjab where assembly elections are to be held in 2022.

Clearly, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), headed by Harsimrat’s husband Sukhbir Singh Badal, has risked its decades-old alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the move.

Harsimrat quitting as Union Food Processing Minister in protest over the three farm bills is being seen as her Akali Dal's attempt to reclaim its core vote bank among farmers in Punjab.

“Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister,” she said after her resignation on September 17. Her husband Sukhbir Singh Badal had earlier informed the Lok Sabha about the resignation during the debate on two of the three contention farm bills.

The Bone of Contention

The Akali Dal is opposing the three agriculture bills--the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 -- passed in the Lok Sabha replacing ordinances during the ongoing Monsoon Session. Party president Sukhbir alleged that it was never consulted on the ordinances.

All this at a time when farmers in Punjab have been agitating against the Bills in Punjab and Haryana. In the Malwa belt, comprising 11 of the state’s 22 districts, the farmers have warned that they will not let any leader who supports the bills let enter their villages.

The farmers are majorly against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, which amends the section governing agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs). They say that the idea of the bills is to dissolve the existing system where they get minimum support prices (MSP) for wheat and paddy, through government-controlled mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that many forces were trying to “mislead'' farmers. “These agriculture reforms will provide new avenues to farmers to sell their produce which will increase their profits,” the PM said in a series of tweets.

Peasantry and the political dynamics

After winning two successive terms in Punjab, SAD-BJP alliance secured its poorest-ever performance in 2017 by winning just 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly. Congress won the election with 77 seats while Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the principal opposition party with 20 seats. In the 2019 general elections, while Congress won 8 seats, SAD and BJP won two each and AAP clinched one among the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Punjab.

Peasantry is Akali Dal’s core vote bank which it was losing gradually. So, standing by farmers in opposition to the bills is being seen as its best bet to reclaim the lost ground over the years. It became a political compulsion amid strained ties with the BJP. While the ruling Congress has been opposed to the bills, AAP, the main opposition, also extended support to the farmers, too.

“All three bills will lead to exploitation of farmers by corporates. I urge all non-BJP parties in Rajya Sabha to oppose them,” AAP convener Kejriwal said on September 18. The Bills, passed in Lok Sabha, will need approval in Rajya Sabha before being sent to the President for final nod.

The SAD-BJP alliance

While Harsimrat has resigned, Akali Dal has not yet announced whether it was snapping ties with BJP-led NDA or not.

“We stand with the farmers and will do anything for them. Next course of action will be taken by our party soon,” Sukhbir Singh Badal said after the resignation.

The move will certainly strain the relationship between the two parties, more so amid reports of BJP’s efforts to flex muscles as it doesn’t want to be a minor partner in Punjab. The party ruling the Centre has made it clear that it wants to be an equal partner, certainly more than existing 23 seats.

“It is the general opinion within the party that we lost in 2017 because of SAD as there was a huge disenchantment over issues including incidents of sacrilege in 2015. The party doesn’t want a similar debacle in 2022,” said a BJP leader.

There are reports that BJP, conscious of SAD’s slide, has started indulging Akali dissenter Sukhdev Dhindsa. The NDA government conferred a Padma Bhushan on Dhindsa in 2019. Sources said Badals wanted to hit back at BJP and hence the revolt.

“Too little, too late”

It is not the first time that SAD has revolted against a BJP decision. In January, the party supported a resolution against Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Punjab Assembly after supporting Centre in the Parliament on the same issue. During the Delhi Assembly polls, the party decided against fighting elections with BJP. Last week, SAD president, Sukhbir Badal opposed Centre move of non-inclusion of Punjabi in the new languages Bill for Jammu and Kashmir.

CM Amarinder Singh termed Harsimrat resignation “too little, too late”, and part of a “long chain of theatrics” by the Akalis.