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Chandigarh: In the
last nearly five years, no one was ever in doubt that Punjab Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal considered son Sukhbir Singh Badal as
his political heir-apparent for the Shiromani Akali Dal and Punjab
politics.
The historic win of the Akali Dal in the recent assembly
elections, in which Sukhbir Badal led from the front, has made his
domination in the party and the government absolute.
As Parkash Singh Badal this week took his oath of office as chief
minister of Punjab for the record fifth time, also in the process
becoming the oldest chief minister in the country at the age of
84-plus, it was his son Sukhbir, 49, who was at the centrestage of
everything.
At the swearing-in ceremony in the historic Sikh battlefield of
Chappar Chiri in Mohali town near here, where the likes of former
deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi, union minister Praful Patel, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
president Nitin Gadkari, former BJP president Rajnath Singh,
Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Himachal Pradesh Chief
Minister P.K. Dhumal and many others descended, Sukhbir ensured
that everything was in place.
All the VVIPs and even media organisation editors were flown in by
helicopters for the ceremony. Five helipads were made near the
venue for the VVIP arrival. Modi and a news channel
owner-cum-editor-in-chief arrived in their helicopters when
Governor Shivraj Patil was in the middle of the swearing-in
ceremony.
Badal Junior, who is also the Akali Dal president and has been
re-inducted as deputy chief minister in his father's government,
is the one who calls all the shots in the government and the
party. Sukhbir holds the all-important portfolios of home, excise
and taxation, sports and investment promotion.
Within hours of taking over, the government announced the
appointment of Sumedh Singh Saini, who has had a chequered career
as a senior police officer and is a close confidant of Sukhbir, as
the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP). Saini superseded five
officers to get the top job.
Among the new ministers in the Badal government, Sukhbir's
confidants, brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia, S.S. Malooka and
Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, were inducted as cabinet ministers. All
have been allocated important departments.
During the run up to the Jan 30 state assembly elections, Sukhbir
had led the party from the front with the slogan 'Raj Karange
Pachhi Saal' (we will rule for 25 years). With his father spending
more time in his own Lambi constituency, where he was in a contest
with his younger brother and a cousin, Sukhbir was the star
campaigner for the Akalis.
His 'micro-management' and monitoring of the assembly seats,
ensuring that Congress dissidents remained in the fray and
plugging even small political loopholes - Sukhbir's presence was
felt everywhere.
"He has evolved greatly as a leader. He is a very mature
politician now. He understands what is the way forward for the
party and himself. He runs the party like a corporate office and
is very result-oriented," a senior Akali Dal leader told IANS
here.
Sukhbir's political skills even got a pat recently from bitter
political opponent and former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
"Unlike his father, he (Sukhbir) is decisive," Amarinder said
recently.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
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