End of Badal era: Can Sukhbir fill the shoes of his father?

The death of the 95-year-old leader, who was the five-time and longest-serving chief minister of Punjab, has prompted a hunt for an able successor to guide Shiromani Akali Dal tide over the period of crisis.

Chandigarh: The demise of Parkash Singh Badal has left a void hard to fill. The deceased stalwart was the tallest political leader, whose acumen can hardly be matched by anybody in Punjab apparently. The death of the 95-year-old leader who was the five-time and longest-serving chief minister of Punjab has prompted a hunt for an able successor to guide his party tide over the period of crisis.

Parkash Singh Badal, who was a grassroots leader, built Shiromani Akali Dal from scratch. In recognition of his contribution to adherence to a sect, he was also honored with the Panth Ratna on behalf of Sri Akal Takht Sahib.

His career, however, has not been without blemish. For some, the blasphemy cases affected the image of Badal. Professor Manjit Singh, a political analyst, feels that there is no doubt that the blasphemy cases have affected his image though there was nothing to suggest that he was directly involved in this matter. Still, the manner in which it happened and the action taken certainly dented his image, Singh says.

According to Singh, every human being is bound by time and circumstances. Any person takes a decision keeping in mind his circumstances and the people around him. A similar situation prevailed during his reign when incidents of blasphemy took place in Punjab. He could not act on those matters in the way the public wanted.

On whether Badal's decision to contest his last election was wrong, Manjit says that the decision to contest the last election was his call. "Whatever happened in the end, Badal had to accept it unwillingly," Singh says.

Another question is doing the rounds. Will Sukhbir Badal be able to keep the party afloat after the demise of his father? Singh says only time can tell as humans have no control over a certain truth. "Sukhbir's challenges are different since the time is different," Singh sums up.