The battlelines are drawn. It's a direct contest between two families - the Badals and the Singhs - as Punjab readies to go to vote on January 30. This time, though, the fight has turned personal as infighting and dissidence take centrestage.
Parkash Singh Badal: Incumbency and infighting - it is double trouble for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal this election season. The octogenarian, eyeing a second consecutive term and fifth overall as Chief Minister, has a tough fight ahead as he faces off with his own brother in the Lambi assembly seat which goes to polls on January 30. Corruption, of course, would be another crucial issue that Mr Badal will have to grapple with. The veteran is banking on his daughter-in-law, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who has emerged as a key strategist and campaigner for the party, especially after her resounding victory in the 2009 parliamentary polls.
Sukhbir Singh Badal: Helped by the chaos in the Congress' house, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal has decided to focus on development plank in the ensuing polls. The Junior Badal, who will be contesting from the Jalalabad constituency that falls in the border district of Ferozepur, has said that there would be no personal attacks during his campaign as he looks for a SAD-BJP encore at the hustings. His confidence ain't surprising given the rebellion brewing within the opposition.
Captain Amarinder Singh: This is, by far, the toughest test for this blue-blooded politician as former Chief Minister and state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh battles dissidence in his own family. His brother Malvinder Singh very recently snapped his three-decades-old association with the party and joined the Badals-led Akalis. Malvinder was upset over being denied ticket for the Samana constituency in the Patiala district that went to his nephew and Amarinder's son Raninder Singh. With Patiala known to be a bastion of the royal family, including the Captain who is the sitting MLA from Patiala City, his own brother campaigning against his party and the family is certainly not good news.
Raninder Singh Tikku: Like father, the son too has family fights to deal with. Captain Amarinder Singh's son Raninder Singh Tikku shot into the news for having pipped his uncle, Malvinder Singh, to the post in being selected as the Congress' candidate from the Samana constituency. What makes it even worse is a near-certain fight with his uncle who left the Congress and has since aligned with the Akalis. With discontent brewing within, Raninder is also faced with the uphill task of negotiating with a dozen rebel leaders to try and bring them back into the party fold.
Manpreet Singh Badal: He's a Badal all right but the similarity ends there. Manpreet Singh Badal, the cousin of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, drifted away from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to form his own People's Party of Punjab (PPP), courtesy a family feud. Not surprisingly, all Akali dissidents as also defectors from other parties have been promptly welcomed. With Congress already being a tough competitor, Manpreet Badal's PPP could pose some serious trouble for his estranged Badal kin.
