The prolonged phase of the “politics of vendetta” in Punjab — conducted under the shadow of combating corruption — has Amarinder as its latest ‘victim’. But be it Amarinder Singh this time or the Badals some years ago, there has not been much change, except for the change of guard. The Badals have long accused Amarinder Singh of having unleashed a “vendetta drive” against them when he was the CM between 2002 and 2007. Now the Captain, say his detractors, is getting a taste of his own bitter medicine.

Akali Dal supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal is not likely to forget the seven days he and his then 78-year old father, current Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, had to spend in jail after being booked for amassing disproportionate assets, in excess of Rs 3,500 crore. “There were lizards all over the cell. They were trying days and nights . My father was more composed,” Sukhbir told The Indian Express. Eventually, however, the chargesheet against the Badals reflected just Rs 78 crore of disproportionate assets. But the matter was far from over.

The allegations of corruption aggressively pursued against the Badals by Amarinder to clinch power in 2002, turned around when it came to the next Assembly elections in 2007. This time the corruption plank became the Akali Dal’s weapon and forced Amarinder out of power.

“A slew of cases against Amarinder Singh then followed. He was booked for the infamous Ludhiana City Centre scam by the VB,” a loyalist said. Meanwhile, the Badals’ dispensation was slowing tightening the noose around his coterie as well. Amarinder’s Man Friday and media adviser, Bharat Inder Singh Chahal was booked for more than one offence, even as the former CM’s Cabinet colleague Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, also met a similar fate. Political observers say that the magnitude of the ongoing barrage of litigation that followed were unthinkable until about a decade ago.

In fact, the animosity between Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal began when Singh had been an Akali leader, but had differences with Badal . The flashpoint came when Amarinder Singh left the Akali Dal to joint the Congress in 1996 after he was denied a party ticket by Badal.

Predictably, Parkash Singh Badal dismisses the revenge theory. “Political vendetta is a pet word for the Congress. The allegations are false. It was a Congress MLA who raised the issue which led to his expulsion,” he said, underlining the rift in the Congress.

After Amarinder Singh lost the Assembly elections last year, he got more than he bargained for. While he may have expected the Badals to unleash a ‘vendetta’, he may not have expected the cold shoulder from his state Congress leaders.

The former CM found support limited to lip service by some, while others, including the Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Amarinder’s long-time bete noire, has made known her implicit approval of his dismissal. According to an expert, key to Amarinder’s survival was a resurgence in state politics where the former CM was slowly losing ground within his own party. It was a do-or-die situation for Amarinder who needed to stay relevant, he said. When Amarinder was crying foul over the vendetta drive against him and his men, came the necessary wherewithal he was looking for. The AICC announced his appointment as chairman of the Election Campaign Committee, cutting Bhattal to size.

Ask Amarinder, and nothing seems to have changed, even though the Akali Dal’s committee was set up with Bhattal’s help. He is till banking on the revenge theory.

Describing his expulsion as the “darkest day” in the history of democracy in Punjab, Singh said, “Ever since the SAD-BJP alliance formed the Government, repeated attempts have been made to send me to jail. They have had no success. In many cases the high court and the Supreme Court have “established political vendetta”.

“There’s no vendetta,” said Akali Dal general secretary Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, adding that it would be best for the Congress to “lick its wounds” until the polls.