It's a jungle out there: Animal metaphors rule the roost in Punjab poll rhetoric

Punjab’s politicians are literally unleashing their animal spirits in the run up to the impending Vidhan Sabha elections. Top Akali and Congress leaders are invoking felines, canines and rodents with a ferocious zest to claw their way to the top in the dogfight for elections to be held in around a year’s time. On Tuesday, after realising that he is the proverbial elephant in the room who can no longer be ignored, the Congress let loose former chief minister Amarinder Singh on its political rivals as its CM candidate. Singh replaced Pratap Singh Bajwa– a political lightweight appointed by Rahul Gandhi– after almost a year of uncertainty, bickering and brinkmanship that threatened to split the Congress and undermine its prospects. At a mammoth rally in Bathinda, the den of the Badals of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), termed the Patiala royal’s coronation ceremony after his return as the Punjab Congress chief, Singh vowed to devour the incumbent government. [caption id=“attachment_2548018” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo. Amarinder Singh. Image courtesy: AFP[/caption] “Sukhbir Badal had called me a boodha sher (old lion). Let me tell him, loud and clear, that I am still fit enough to gobble up his entire giddar (jackal) family,” Singh said. The verbal catfight is characteristic of the longstanding turf war between Badals and their bete noir. Such is the degree of their political animus that it often degenerates into wild antics and zoological semantics. An apocryphal story from a previous joust underlines the tone and tenor of the rivalry. Sniping at the dynastic hierarchy of the SAD, Singh is rumoured to have ridiculed Sukhbir by calling him a Balungra (kitten). Sukhbir is the son and deputy of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the husband of union minister Harsimrat Kaur, brother-in-law of state ministers Bikram Majithia and Aadesh Pratap Singh Kairon and estranged cousin of former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal. The heir apparent reportedly replied to the remark with this colourful threat: “Captain (Singh) de tang pajamiya vich choohe chhad denge (we will release mice in Singh’s tight pyjamas).” If the terminology of the SAD and the Congress sounds familiar and similar, their politics is also mimicking each other’s agendas. Since October, after sporadic incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib that led to unrest and protests across Punjab and various other places in and outside India, there is growing speculation that both the parties are trying to blatantly mix religion and politics. At Tuesday’s rally in Bathinda, Singh stopped midway through his speech and asked for some water to wash his hands. Then, he asked a Congress MLA who had quit the Assembly to protest the desecration, for a gutka (holy book). Pressing the gutka to his forehead, Singh swore to rid Punjab of the drug menace within four weeks of a Congress win in the elections. Singh, who had quit the Congress in 1984 to protest Operation Blue Star and the Akali Dal later to protest Operation Black Thunder, knows the importance of religious symbolism in an election that could acquire a communal undertone. People close to him say Singh believes that he is still respected by hardliners because of the stand he took in the past. So, he seems eager to take proactive steps to counter any Akali strategy to benefit from divisive politics. The Akalis have always been accused of mixing a dangerous cocktail of drugs and panthic agenda in Punjab’s politics. A few years ago, the Akalis revived memories of the separatist movement when they demanded clemency for Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has been convicted for the assassination of former chief minister Beant Singh. Later, they covertly supported a bandh in Punjab for Rajoana’s release. During the bandh, supported by SGPC, Khalistani flags and posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had surfaced in many parts of Punjab. Critics of the Badals suspect their role also in the recent desecration of the holy book in Punjab to polarise the state politics. The Akalis and their partners, the BJP, however, claim the incidents were orchestrated by Singh. “He has been rewarded by the Congress for disturbing peace in Punjab,” state BJP chief Kamal Sharma alleged after the Congress rally at Bathinda. The Congress retorts by arguing that the Akalis have failed miserably to implement their pre-poll development agenda and have gone back to panthic politics to divert attention and hide their failure. The term of the current Vidhan Sabha ends in January. But the theme of the campaign has started emerging: It promises to be a riveting cocktail of drugs, religion and, of course, jungle talk.