Punjab's deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal proved his managerial skills..

Punjab's deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal proved his managerial skills when he commanded a demoralised Akali Dal-BJP alliance to power in the 2007 Assembly elections dislodging the Congress government headed by Capt. Amarinder Singh. As the state gears up again to go to the polls in early 2012, he exudes confidence in a conversation with Jagtar Singh

You had commanded SAD-BJP to victory in the last Assembly elections. In the Lok Sabha elections, too, your performance was above average. How serious is the challenge to retain power?

Elections are always a big challenge and I have always accepted challenges in my life. My strategy has always been based upon positive moves. In normal situations, I have distaste for negativism.

How do you view the situation?

In Punjab, it is a fight between pro-people and anti-people forces. Congress, ever since Independence, has been associated with excesses committed against Punjab and Punjabis. The list of excesses is long. On the other hand, SAD has always been regarded as a party of the masses, a symbol of Punjab and Punjabiyat. This is the cornerstone of the Akali Dal. Our party has always been in the vanguard of the fight to protect the interests of Punjabis. The present situation has to be assessed against the backgrounds of the two parties.

What would be the main plank of your alliance as you are also talking of Panthic issues like Sikh heritage memorials?

No community in the world can survive by neglecting its heritage. The history of the Sikhs, the most nascent religion in the world, is a saga of struggles and sacrifices. Our government took the initiative to preserve its heritage. We are going to the people seeking a mandate on our performance. The people should compare our performance with the five-year term of the last Congress government. We are much ahead in every sector of the economy.

Development during these five years has been unprecedented. 

Capt. Amarinder Singh has questioned both the vision of your government and performance.

It is ironic. It is his government that wrecked the education and health sectors. We inherited schools without teachers and infrastructure and hospitals without doctors. You may recall that the government used to openly talk of encouraging privatisation in these basic sectors. It used to be said people prefer private schools to government schools. We have reversed that situation. We have not facilitated private investment at the cost of public sector. We have tried to carry both the sectors along. We recruited doctors for dispensaries and teachers for schools. Our Adarsh school scheme has been emulated by the government at the Centre also. This would not have been possible had there been no vision and initiative.

The election campaign is becoming vicious and bitter with personal accusations and allegations.

We have always opposed such bitterness in electioneering. Campaigning has to be on issues. The problem with Capt. Amarinder Singh is that he and his party lack positive issues. My father has been in public life for more than 50 years and never has anybody heard any harsh word from him for political opponents. When our picture hugging each other appeared in a national newspaper, the signal that emanated was very positive. The people thought the bitterness was over and the next election would be contested on issues. However, Capt. Amarinder Singh thought it might weaken his campaign and within days, he reverted to his old style.

He has been accusing your family of corruption.

We faced court cases that were filed by Capt. Amrinder Singh’s government. It is the court which has discharged us. That only proves that the cases were politically motivated. After doing my Master’s in business management from the US, I ventured into business and succeeded. On the other hand, Capt. Amarinder Singh failed in business and defaulted on bank loans. The banks pasted a notice on the gate of his Moti Bagh residence in Patiala. It is he who owes an explanation to the people about the turnaround in his financial fortunes.

Do you perceive any threat from the People’s Party of Punjab of your estranged cousin Manpreet Singh Badal who has joined hands with the Communists and an Akali splinter group to form Sanjha Morcha?

Sanjha Morcha is no threat to the Akali Dal-BJP alliance. The support base of the Left has been shrinking over the years. None of these parties has representation in the outgoing Assembly. They are nonentities. Manpreet has no base of his own. Sanjha Morcha will be completely wiped out. Manpreet would not be able to retain even his own seat which he has won four times as the Akali Dal candidate. Going by past voting behaviour, his party might rather affect the Congress in the sense that the minuscule section of disgruntled Akalis, as is always the case with the ruling party, might vote for the Sanjha Morcha. They might have otherwise voted for the Congress.

How come you are so hopeful of breaking the pattern of the Akali Dal and Congress alternately returning to power in Punjab?

Our motto has been ‘Raj Nahin Seva’. The concept of Akali Dal has always been to serve the people and not rule over the state. Our government has provided dignified access to government services to the people through the all-encompassing Right to Service Act, which covers a total of 67 services which are now being provided to the people in a time-bound manner. No other state has enacted such a comprehensive legislation. There is a wave in favour of the SAD-BJP alliance.