Parkash Singh Badal had a humble beginning as a village sarpanch, while Amarinder Singh was born into a well-connected royal family. But both bitter rivals are first-generation politicians, who have turned their tussle for power into a family affair. The battle between the House of Badal and the Patiala Royals will only intensify these in the Lok Sabha polls. While Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) patron Parkash Singh Badal has no less than six members of his clan in his ministry, Captain Amarinder Singh is trying to catch up, with both his wife Preneet Kaur and son Raninder in the poll fray. The men who hold the strings:

The grand old man

A political player for over half a century, four-time CM and octogenarian leader Parkash Singh Badal appropriated the family name ‘Badal’ from the village where he launched his political career. He has made sure that his family members, unlike him, have a political headstart. While son and SAD(B) president Sukhbir Singh Badal is Deputy Chief Minister and an MP, nephew Manpreet Badal is

the Finance Minister and a three-time MLA. The senior Badal’s daughter Preneet Kaur, meanwhile, is married to Punjab Cabinet minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, who is the

grandson of former chief minister Pratap Singh Kairon.

The latest on the block is Badal’s daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur, who is making her debut in politics as the SAD(B) nominee on home turf Bathinda. Sukhbir’s brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia is also in the party and was a Cabinet minister till recently.

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