Don't expect quick, big changes in Punjab under Amarinder Singh
When Captain Amarinder Singh ruled out vendetta after cruising his Congress party to a record-breaking victory in Punjab, it was a signal not to expect populist politics under his government.
In fact, a populist movement that Arvind Kejriwal tried to build in the state has itself fallen flat with the thudding fall of his Aam Aadmi Party in the recent elections.
Vendetta in politics is a form of populism. And the Captain is very well familiar with it.
No other Akali chief had ever been jailed in Punjab over corruption charges than Parkash Singh Badal, who was sent to prison in connection with a disproportionate-asset case in 2003, a year after Captain Singh took office back then.
That time, his Congress had 62, the Shiromani Akali Dal 41 and the BJP three MLAs in the state Assembly.
This time, Captain Singh faces no formidable opposition.
With 77 legislators in the 117-member Assembly, he has beaten the Congress's previous records in state elections since 1957.
World over, political arrests and prosecutions usually stem from the rulers' hankering to prove themselves to their constituencies.
They tend to grab headlines through cosmetic action on predecessors, advertising it as a crackdown on corruption.
But Captain Singh, barely a day after his landslide, told reporters that's not going to happen in his administration. But he promised to deal with drugs on a priority.
Punjab's new chief minister is under no pressure from any quarter. The Congress leadership should be indebted to him for securing Punjab when it's been rapidly washed away by the BJP's surge on the national map.
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| Those who thought the Captain will appoint Navjot Singh Sidhu as his second-in-command have been proved wrong. Photo: Reuters |
The Badals, who have led the state's mighty Shiromani Akali Dal to its historic rout, have lost opposition space to a rookie AAP.
And the AAP itself is too stunned to recover from the shock of its own performance anytime soon.
At 75, time is on Captain Singh's side by all parameters. He needs no theatre or media jamboree around.
In all likelihood, Punjab isn't going to see what we in journalism call big-bang measures, political or economic.
His will likely be a slow-and-steady administration.
The Captain has already spoken about drugs. There's no reason to be cynical about his pledge, though it may take longer than expected to curb the scourge.
Preliminary indications also suggest Captain Singh's steel frame - his team of top bureaucrats -- is going to be much better than Badals'.
Sector-wise, the chief minister is expected to lift agriculture out of the red.
Diversification is key. Rice, Punjab's crop of choice, has contributed heavily to the state's groundwater crisis.
Paddy fields, officials say, guzzle more than three times the amount of water the state receives in the monsoon.
A policy-decision promoting other crops will help resolve the problem.
Restructuring of farming loans and revival of industry will be other important areas for the Congress government to work on. So will be the SYL and state power plants.
In brief, these issues aren't incurable. Meticulous and honest planning, and not haste, is what is required to address them.
Certainly, Captain Singh will then be required to focus his attention more on planning and execution than on TV cameras, YouTube or Twitter for quick publicity over half-baked projects and political "tu-tu, main-main".
In that sense, Kejriwal would have kept the journalist fraternity on its toes had his party won a state like Punjab.
And those who thought the Captain will appoint Navjot Singh Sidhu as his second-in-command have also been proved wrong. The motormouth celebrity legislator from Amritsar is given humble responsibilities in Captain Singh's low-profile cabinet.