‘This time, maybe, just maybe, they do deliver’

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Balachaur, August 5

The marriage palace is hot and humid as a motley crowd of curious villagers waits for Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to hold his Sangat Darshan.

The expectations, as expected, are high — the local Akali leaders and supporters want to hear Sukhbir say “yes” to their every demand. It’s his first such event in the area after all and that too in the election year, there is a definitive air of anti-incumbency after all, and they have been loyalist Akalis after all.

There is a tinge of realism though. Promises are, after all, promises and they’ve experienced their share of unremitted indulgence. As the restless villagers talk amongst themselves on what demands they will hurriedly put forward, some utter the forbidden words: “AAP” and “NOTA”. The bad news for the ruling party: they are not admonished. The good news: not many care to repeat the words.

As soon as Badal Junior disembarks from his chopper, the stage is set to distribute 150 bicycles among girl students and hand over letters of old age pension and blue cards. “The official machinery has been on its toes for three days,” admits an official.

Openly dismissive of the surge of Aam Aadmi Party, Sukhbir shakes hands with panchayat members and greets elderly women with folded hands as he distributes letters confirming release of grants.

Those hoping for solutions to village-specific problems like restoring drinking water, completion of drains and repair of roads only get assurances as an official is called to get the problems fixed. Many leave with the hope that now at least, with SAD’s fortunes at stake, the Deputy CM would ask for a reality check after some time.

Some panchayats that boast of having given the lead to the Akalis in the last parliamentary elections remind leaders that the MP, Prem Singh Chandumajra, had promised more funds.

As Sukhbir hands over blue cards, a group of women from Simbal Majura village seated in a remote corner of the marriage palace complain of how they have been left out. Seeing the discontent, a policeman in civvies starts penning down their grievances. Satisfied that they have been noticed, the women go silent.

The Sangat Darshan is of 74 village panchayats and 13 MC wards. It’s a tall order expecting even some to go home satisfied. But then, fuelling expectation is the fuel parties thrive on.