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Ruling Akali Dal will be hurt by Badal's injury and Tohra's betrayal

Crippled by a femur injury, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash singh Badal faces a daunting task while campaigning for the forthcoming assembly elections.

More than his physical injury, Badal's main handicap would be the firm refusal of Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who has been president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee for 25 terms, to mend fences with the chief minister.

Apart from the anti-incumbency factor, this time Badal's Akali Dal would have to contend with a division of votes as Tohra is campaigning for a parallel Akali front, the Panthic Morcha.

As compared to the three-fourth majority that Badal mustered in the last assembly election, which he and Tohra contested collectively, this time the chief minister would be hard put to even make it within breathing distance of the majority figure in the 117-member House.

Badal kicked off his election campaign this week addressing a public meeting at Tanda, about 75 kms from Chandigarh.

Though the party put up an impressive show of strength at the meeting, the limitations caused by Badal's injury were painfully obvious.

Riding an improvised 'rath' (chariot), which has a makeshift bed-cum-chair, Badal pops out of a van and address the people from the roof-top.

Among other things, the chief minister also seeks sympathy by repeatedly harping on the 'unfortunate slip' that caused his injury and thereby confined him to bed for more than one-a-half months.

Doctors attending on him said that Badal would be able to move about with the aid of a stick within the next two to three weeks, though discarding the rath would not be an option.

Known to be an aggressive political campaigner who addressed five to six public meetings a day, the injury would limit the number of meetings to one or two.

Being the sole vote-catcher for the ruling Akali Dal, Badal's handicap is definitely a big advantage to the state Congress.

Ironically, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh, who is known for his easy-going style, would be campaigning at a pace, which would surely come close to the one circumstances have ordained for Badal.

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