NEW DELHI—Even though he has received a lukewarm response from the people of Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) pattern Parkash Badal has not restrained his nepotism. Rather than considering any one of the senior elder Akali leaders previously elected as members of parliament to be deserving of representing the party in Modi’s council of ministers, he instead facilitated cabinet minister status for his daughter-in-law Harsimrat Badal.
Badal did so regardless of fact that the other victorious senior Akali leaders Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Sher Singh Ghubaya, and Prem Singh Chandumajra won by a much larger margin of votes than Harsimrat, who won by a mere margin of only about 19,000 votes. The trio has committed their lives to the party (though because of personal interests, they did nothing for the welfare of Sikh nation), whereas Harsimrat Badal is newer to politics and a mere junior leader in the party.
Seniority wise, Brahmpura was the deserved candidate for the SAD representation in Modi’s Cabinet. However, achieving new heights of nepotism, Badal did not hesitate to ignore the seniority parameter.
On the other hand, elder senior Akali leaders like Brahmpura do not have the guts to stand in the way of Badal and argue with him. They have completely handed over control to Badal. Regardless of whatever Badal does, no one in the party dares to challenge his illegitimate actions. This attitude of Party leaders leaves the Party limited to merely a private company belonging to the Badal family.
