Victory was always on but sweep lifts their bigger hopes

The euphoric Badals have been hailing the results as a pointer to the outcome of the ensuing Assembly elections,while the Congress has called the SGPC elections a “farce” that will have no impact on the Assembly elections. The SGPC elections,which have always been won by the Akalis (they bagged 134 seats last time),have a total electorate of 56 lakh compared to the 1.8 crore voters registered for the Assembly elections to be held by February.

The SAD had appeared desperate to put up a good show. There were reports of tension and clashes among party workers even during the selection of candidates. Later,a few who had been denied tickets contested as rebel candidates. Despite the unmatched resources with the ruling party,there were areas in which multi-cornered contests led to uncertainties about the outcome.

With the stakes so high,there were several reports of violence,booth capturing and “fake” voters on the day of the polling. The Gurdwara Election Commission claimed ignorance about any untoward incident despite telling photographs splashed in the media. The commission has earned criticism for its “partisan” attitude. It allegedly ignored complaints by some candidates and their supporters about false voting. Though there were reports of booth capturing in a few villages,the commission chose not to order a repoll on the plea that these votes were too few to affect the final tally.

The SGPC elections had also come under a controversy over a decision that only keshdhari sikhs (those who do not shear their hair) were eligible to cast vote. As per estimates,nearly 80 per cent Sikhs were disqualified because of the strict condition. The Congress,which otherwise was not contesting the elections,took the stand that all Sikhs,including the sehajdharis,should be allowed to vote. The controversy was stoked furthe when a senior advocate,appointed by the Centre to argue a case relating to the issue,declared in the High Court that the Centre had agreed to withdraw the notification which barred non-keshdhari Sikhs from participating in the voting. Following a strong protest lodged by the SAD,the Centre quickly denied any such move. Incidentally,the Gurdwara Commission had threatened to arrest clean-shaven and other ineligible voters but maintained silence after pictures of clearly ineligible voters appeared all over the media.

One of the significant outcomes was the rout of the radicals who were demanding Khalistan. The radicals,led by Simranjit Singh Mann,a former MP,managed to win only three seats. Mann,who contested from two constituencies,and even his foreign-educated son were defeated. Their presence,however,proved a blessing in disguise for the SAD by providing triangular fights which cut into the votes of the non-SAD (Badal) candidates. The Panthic Morcha also suffered because of the lack of clear leadership and direction to its campaign.

However,the sweeping victory for the SAD is tempered by a number of factors that should be a cause of worry for the ruling party. From the very beginning,it had not been smooth sailing for the party with a large number of aspirants from various constituencies. Obviously the party could not placate all factions and faced rebel candidates besides leaving a large number of hopefuls disappointed.

The low margin of victory in some of the constituencies,and wins attributed mainly because of the division of votes among rebels or other parties in some other constituencies,is another cause for worry. Their claim of a “repeat” performance in the Assembly elections notwithstanding,the party will have to tackle these problems before the “final match”.