Arjun Badal pitches in for father

“This is just what my father would have been doing. This yatra is the culmination of values,principles,beliefs and passion for what my father stands for. The entire family supports him,” says Arjun,who is on a two-week break from schooling. After having completed his matriculation from Doon School,Arjun is currently a student of Choate Rosemary Hall,a collage preparatory boarding school in Connecticut,USA.

Arjun says: “We could see that he (Manpreet) is disturbed. He simply could not do the things his way. My father wanted to do something for Punjab but the system was against him.” Ask him about his relation with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and uncle Sukhbir Badal,he says: “I am very close to bade dadaji (Badal) but have little to do with my uncle or his family.”

On his father’s decision to quit the government,the party and how their lives have changed,Arjun says: “I was in the US when this happened,but my father did talk to my mother and sister at that time. As far as our lives are concerned,there has been no change at all. Even when my father was a minister,we never used the government perks or benefits for our personal use. I am accompanying my father on this yatra just to feel the pulse of the state.”

Asked if he has any plans to join politics,Arjun says: “I am interested in politics and may join it one day,but I have a long way to go before that. I am still in school and have to complete my education,like my father did,before I can join politics.”