M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) PART II PAPER-VII (OPTION-II) SEMESTER-IV (PUNJAB POLITICS) LESSON NO. 2.5 AUTHOR : Dr. J.S. BRAR EMERGING TRENDS IN PUNJAB POLITICS State politics in India has a dynamism of its own and cannot be easily placed in neat and clearly demarcated categories. In fact, the states in India are marked by enormous diversity in terms of religion language caste and culture. This diversity has been further multiphed by differences in their historical traditions levels of education and patterns of economic development. As such, politics in each Indian state has some peculiarities of its own while at the same time it may have something in common with the politics of other states. In this lesson, we shall briefly discuss the sahent features of Punjab politics and on that basis try to delineate its emerging trends. Salient Features of Punjab Politics : The changing pattern of Punjab politics can be understood only if we take into consideration the peculiarities of the local environment of the state. But this task is not so easy and poses certain insurmountable problems. As the physical boundaries, social composition of population and economy of the state have constantly been undergoing change. It is not possible to take the regional environment as a fixed category. But inspite of this relative dynamism there have been some permanent factors in the environment of the state which have shaped and influenced its politics. A brief discussion of these factors may help us in understanding the nature of Punjab politics and in determining its emerging trends. Religion has perhaps been the single most important factor in the Politics of the state. It has been instrumental in shaping the political orientations of different social group in the state. During the pre-partition days the conflict among the Muslims; Hindus and sikhs-provided the main impetus to the politics of this region. The demand for Pakistan was opposed both by the Hindus and the Sikhs. Sharp communal polarisation not only led to the disintegration of the Unionist Party but also resulted in Communal Carnage at the time of partition. Subsequently, religion become a major factor in dividing the Sikhs and Hindus along communal lines. The demand for the reorganisation of the Akali Dal after partition was always interpreted by the Hindus as a communal demand for the creation of a Sikh state. Religious differences between the two communities sometimes took the shape of linguistic controversies between the protagonists of Punjabi and Hindi languages. The Hindu's refused to accept Punjabi as their mother tongue and preferred Hindi for this, purpose, because it helped them in making Punjab a bilingual state. 92 M.A. (Political Science) Part-II 93 PAPER-VII (OPTION-II) Religious differences between the Hindus and Sikhs have been further strengthened because of the actual dispersal of the population belonging to these communities. The Sikhs are mainly confined to rural areas and the Hindus to urban centres. The rural-urban orientation has further strengthened communal polarisation in the state. Punjab politics has also been marked by a strong feeling of regionalism. Before the reorganison of the state in 1966, regionalism manifested it self in the shape of certain culture, religious and linguistic differences among the three regions of the state viz. Hill region. Haryana and Punjab region. The demand of the Sikh community for the recognition of its separate identity sometimes in the form of a Sikh state at others in terms of a linguistic state further intensified the parochial feelings among these regions. After 1966, regional feelings however, took the shape of differences between the state and the central government. The akali dal a regionally based party, has often accused Government of discrimination against the state. Another significant feature of the environment of the state is its growing economic propriety. Punjab has the highest per capita income in the country. The main reason for the economic prosperity of the state is the modernisation of its agriculture. Growth in agriculture has given impetus to the development of small and medium sized industries. The growing prosperity of the state however, has generated new tensions and led to the emergence of new political alignments. It has widened the rural-urban divide and accentuated the contradictions between the peasantry and the land labour. Emerging Trends in Punjab Politics After analysing the important features of the regional environment, we shall now briefly discuss the emerging trends in the politics of the state on the basis of socio-economic changes and the political turmon that it has experienced during the past few years. We shall being our analysis discussing the structural changes in the economy of the state in the wake of green revolution and their impact on the politics of the state. Green Revolution and Emerging Class Contradictions : It continues to be a moot point as to which section of the Punjab society have benefitted most from the green revolution. But there is no denying the fact that the affluence generated by the green revolution has sharpened the class contradictions in the content of Akali politics in the state. As rich peasants constitute the dominant section in the leadership of the Akali Dal, they were forced to evolve new strategies to protect their class interests. One of the device employed by them was to raise the demand for greater autonomy to states and it led to the adoption of the Anandpur Sahib resolution by the Akali Dal in 1973. There are several versions of this controversial revolution. But the one officially adopted by the Akali Dal at its annual conference at Ludhiana in 1978, demanded the restructuring of centre- M.A. (Political Science) Part-II 94 PAPER-VII (OPTION-II) state relations and decentralisations of powers. It emphasized that the jurisdiction of the central government should be confined only to four subjects viz, foreign affairs, defence currency and communications. The states should be allowed to have their separate constitutions. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution also demanded the redrawing of the boundaries of Punjab so as to include left out Punjabi speaking areas belonging to Himachal Pardesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. It also included such demands as the enactment of an All India Gurdwara Act, and grant of second language status to Punjabi in Himachal, Haryana and other neighbouring states. However, the most controversial part of the resolution relation to the demand that in the new state Sikhs should be in predominant position. The prolonged Akali agitation for the implementations of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution and the acceptance of its other demands has completely changed the shape and contact of Punjab Politics. It hampered the trend towards secularisation in the politics of the state and led to sharp communal polarisation. But the revival of the Akali-BJP alliance is likely to reduce communal tensions in the state. Emerging Trends in Party System : The Akali agitation for the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution has considerably influenced the nature of the party system. Party system in Punjab particularly after the reorganisation of the state in 1966, was marked by a dualistic competition between the Akali Dal and the Congress for supremacy, But this competition gradually took the shape of alliance politics in which the smaller parties tried to enter into coalition with either the Akali Dal or the congress. The Akali Dal formed a United Front with the other non-Congress parties in 1967 to keep the Congress out of power. The CPM also supported the United Front Ministry without joining it. The Akali Dal was in a position to keep the congress out of power in the state from 1967 to 1972 through its attempts at communal coalition building with the Jana Sangh. The Congress responded to this challenge by entering into an electoral alliance with the CPI. It was successful in ousting the Akali Dal from power during the 1972 Assembly elections. For a time it appeared that the dualistic competition between the two major parties with smaller parties as electoral alhes on either side would endure and get institutionalised in due course of time. But the political developments in the state during the past few years have shattered these hopes and have significantly altered the nature of party competition in the state. The communal polarisation in the wake of terrorist violence and Operation Blue Star has forced the Akali Dal and the BJP to drift apart. Though there were reports that the two parties cooperated with each other in some constituencies during the 1985 Assembly elections in the state, but the sharp polarisation between the Hindus and Sikhs because of their sectarian outlook about M.A. (Political Science) Part-II 95 PAPER-VII (OPTION-II) the political crisis in Punjab precluded the possibility of earher close understanding between the Akali Dal and the B.J.P. Similarly, the two Communist Parties have drifted away both from the Akali Dal and Congress because of their irrational approach in dealing with the Punjab problem. In this process, the CPI and CPM have come closer to each other, a clear testimony of this relationship was their electoral alliance during the 1985 assembly elections. It is thus evident that the party system in Punjab has undergone a significant change during the last few years, From dualistic model, with smaller electoral alhes with the major competitors, it has taken the shape of fragmented Pluralism. It may take a pretty long time for a new alliance pattern to emerge. Another interesting development that has taken place in relation to party system has been the strengthening of factional conflict in almost all political parties in the state. To a certain extent, factional conflict in inherent in the nature of political parties, but the one that has come into existence during the past few years is something of a different nature.