The victory of Simranjit Singh Mann, a known hardline Sikh leader and chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar (SAD-Amritsar), from Punjab’s Sangrur parliamentary constituency, may have far-reaching implications. Mr. Mann, who has time and again raised the bogey of ‘Khalistan’, the sovereign state for Sikhs, could by his unexpected win embolden radical elements and lead to a resurgence of the “Akali politics” in Punjab.
Observers of the State’s politics and law and order fear this dangerous trend will be a tough challenge for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which would have to take concrete steps to deal firmly with the emerging situation.
Punjab went through a traumatic phase of militancy from the mid-1980s to early-1990s over the demand for Khalistan. The Khalistan movement has lost popular support but sporadic incidents that have taken place recently in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have re-ignited the debate over the movement’s revival.
