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| Time to govern now | | Politicians take up populist causes | |
FOR too long, less-than-impor
tant issues have dominated
the politics of Punjab: the Moga byelection, Delhi gurdwara polls, Goa conclave, the 1984 memorial and now zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections. Punjab politicians flit from one populist issue to another, ignoring basic problems of the people. The core but non-emotive issues of indebtedness, unemployment and development are not any political party's first priority. The state's treasury is in deep trouble, economic growth is slowing and governance is less than satisfactory. Important but politically unattractive issues like education, health and infrastructure cry for attention. As summer sets in, power and water shortages hit everyone's daily life. Industry works below capacity because of frequent power supply disruptions. Workers get laid off. Farmers are forced to spend more on diesel to extract groundwater. The water table sinks further as no one pays attention. But for politicians zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections are more important.
The elections have seldom got so charged. Violence indicates the presence of criminals in politics. This should worry senior leaders, who tend to embrace law-breakers for small electoral victories. The situation does not augur well for the coming Lok Sabha elections. Both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister stayed away from campaigning, confident perhaps of a positive outcome. Capt Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal also did no day-to-day electioneering. Civic elections should normally be left to local leaders. Voters usually back candidates of the ruling party. But since state-level politicians had nothing else to busy themselves with, they jumped in to further muddy the waters.Out to prove himself again, Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa led from the front. Congress leaders remain divided as they head for their real battle in 2014. They were united only in condemning the state Election Commissioner and the police for being partial. But no one speaks up for police reforms. Complaints of vendetta notwithstanding, no party wants political interference in day-to-day police functioning to stop. There are plenty of issues for Punjab leaders to take up — if they want to. |
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