Panjab Elections: SAD Expels Adesh Partap Kairon, CM Mann Faces Protest

On 25 May, SAD expelled senior leader Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from the primary membership of the party for indulging in anti-party activities. The decision was taken following a complaint from SAD’s Khadoor Sahib candidate Virsa Singh Valtoha. Valtoha has hailed the decision, but former SAD members who rebelled and were brought Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Jagir Kaur back to the party have questioned the decision. In the short run, the expulsion will benefit independent candidate Amritpal Singh, and in the long run Bikram Singh Majithia would be the only big SAD leader in the Majha region (north Panjab). On 23 May, CM Bhagwant Mann faced protests in Mansa and Maur when he went to campaign. The protests were against restrictions police placed on shopkeepers being asked to close shops but the anger goes deeper over lack of infrastructure and public facilities. After two years of AAP rule, people are asking questions over unfulfilled promises: solving drug abuse within months, ₹2,500 per month old age pension, ₹1,000 per month aid to women, citizens being excluded from cheap rations list, and receiving wheat flour instead of wheat under the National Food Security Act. PM Modi keeps reminding people about his free ration scheme for 800M Indians, but in Panjab it is no different than photos of CM Mann with ‘sponsored by’ printed on ration bags, or photos of former SAD CM Parkash Singh Badal printed on hearse vans and girl students’ bicycles. Meanwhile, out of 328 candidates in fray, 22 have declared assets worth more than $1.2M in their poll affidavits. Also, there are only 6 women fielded by the five major political parties.