NEW DELHI:” After 57 long months, Punjab has had an election of sorts and popular government of sorts, ostensibly, the Congress has won a landslide victory. In reality the militants have won, their call for boycott was much more successful than the Congress call for a full-blooded poll many rural areas, there was hardly any voting, and a few Sikhs voted in a Sikh majority state. So an election aimed at healing Sikh wounds has clearly not done so, Nevertheless, it is a distinct improvement over the lack of elections earlier”, this is how India prestigious business daily, the Economic Times summed up the results of the recently held Punjab election.
The daily also noted that the eclipse of the Akali Dal (Kabal) was a humiliation worthy of the poll. The B.J.P. which fared so well in the municipal poll in the state, suffered the humiliation in winning just three seats. This suggests that Punjabis polarized as never before. People seem to be cither for the militants (in which case they do not vote) for crushing the militants (in which case they vote for the Congress rather than moderate Akalis or the BP. which is not in power in New Delhi).
The paper also foresees danger of more violence taking place in Punjab in view of the polarization. It pleads for rule of law and action against policemen acting as looters and dacoits, in addition to action against militants. One of the major grievances of the people of Punjab today is against the lawlessness of the police.
The Hindu fundamentalist, the “Tribune, does not agree with the Economic Times. The newspaper’s editor V.N. Narayanan nan editorial says that the myth of communal polarization in the must concluded elections has been exploded because Congress (I) party representatives belong to both major communities. The paper also says that the apprehension that the coming of a Congress government will lead to a communal polarization, increasing the prospects of violence in the coming months, is largely misplaced. In another place. The Tribune says that the legitimacy of election in a democracy has never been questioned on the basis of voting figures. In expressing these views, The Tribune relied on mythically produced voting figure of 30%. The paper did not care to correct itself later.
However, The Times of India depends on a professional reporter, Dinesh Kumar, covering Punjab. Dinesh reported on the polling day itself that Sikhs, both in rural and urban areas, heeded the boycott call. Polling officials seemed embraced to admit that the votes polled hardly over touched two right figures. Only very few booths recorded more than 100 votes. The turnout in the urban areas was marginally better. The Hindu dominated Ludhiana town recorded a turnover of 30%,
Relying on these balanced reports and other trends, the popular Times of India wrote editorially: “The outcome carries thee loud and clear messages the clout the militants command is much more extensive than what the authorities would have the world believe; the Akalis have all but ceased to matter in the affairs Of the state and the stunning victory of Congress may turn out to be pyrrhic one.” The newspaper funher says that another message of the pol is by far the most ominous. As its, inspite of the relatively peaceful nature of the poll, doubt is can and will be raised about the legitimacy of a government which has been elected with a three fourth majority by one fourth of the electorate. But when one considers that this one fourth represents only a proportion of the state’s minority Hindu community, skepticism about the character of the government must tum 19 grave concerns. Indeed, the risk of the communal divide in Punjab widening further cannot be underrated.
Indian Express, another popular daily; wrote editorially Any feeling of satisfaction over the fact that Wednesdays Assembly and. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab passed off without any major burst of violence must be tempered by the awareness that the percentage of polling was the lowest ever. The climate of terror created by the call for boycotting the polls and a 48hour bandh from Monday, given by the militants and several Akali factions, doubtless Contributed to this. But it could not have been the only factor. Terror was in the air during the 1989 Lok Sabha elections as well but the turnout was about 62%. The resentment caused by the sudden, last moment postponement and subsequent annulment of the June 1991, elections must also have contributed; to most people in Punjab it was a dirty trick played on them to enable the Congress, which had then boycotted the elections to contest and capture Power. Another cause was perhaps the way in which the elections were held this time. From the beginning many became suspicious that the State Government and the Congress high command wanted a coalition between the Akali Dal (Kabul) and the Congress and the two parties were working in tandem. If the manner in which Amarinder Singh of the former and Dil bagh Singh Daleke of the latter were elected unopposed strengthened this suspicion.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 6, 1992
