Senior Badal sits easy, no opposition face yet

Mandela of Indian polit ics, as Narendra Modi described him once, may be fighting his last poll battle. 89-year-old CM Parkash Singh Badal is appealing to people for one more term, saying it will enhance his age by 10 years.

Last Wednesday, the four-time MLA Badal came to his eponymous village in Lambi and went literally to every street over three hours holding nine sangat darshan events and handing out cheques to the needy.

Badal village, which has 3,500-odd inhabitants and a huge ancestral mansion of the CM, is perhaps the most modern village in the state with a flood-lit multipurpose stadium, halfa-dozen schools and colleges, a civil hospital and many banks. “Seeing is believing in Badal village...look at the well-paved double lane roads leading here,” Tajinder Singh, a local told ET.

Also read: The picture in Jalalabad. Sukhbir Singh's constituency

Also read: The picture in Patiala, Captain Amarinder Singh's constituency

Despite the unpopularity plaguing his government, the senior Badal is respected and even revered in Lambi villages. In the dusty Lambi town, local shopkeepers say the CM has not been able to rein in his son.

“CM is a well-intentioned man. Everyone respects his sagacity and age. His government is unpopular due to Sukhbir and his son-in-law Bikram Majithia. Still, CM will win from Lambi again and set a record,” say a group of shopkeepers, pleading anonymity.

The winning margin for the CM has been around 24,000 votes since 1997 - till it dipped alarmingly to just 9,000 votes in 2007 when Badals took over the reins of power in the state from Captain Amarinder Singh. Both AAP and Congress are still to declare their candidates from the Lambi seat.

“Earlier Congress gave him a fight here. Now AAP is also here. The anti-incumbency votes will get divided and Badal will win,” says Harjinder Singh in Kheowali Village.

The CM’s home turf is essentially a rural seat with 71 villages. He started his career as sarpanch of Badal village. At the sangat darshan events when locals asked him for jobs, Badal said: “Ask for anything else but jobs. I can’t create jobs.

Look what Om Prakash Chautala did in recruitments and is in jail. Do you want me to go to jail?” Lambi would wish him to win again, even if he does not become the CM.