Capt Amarinder Singh takes the oath today as Chief Minister of Punjab. If he wants to leave a legacy different from that of Parkash Singh Badal — who will always be remembered, among other things, for financially bankrupting Punjab — he may want to avoid mistakes the Fakhr-e-Qaum and he in his previous term made. For 10 years the Captain was kept out of power because he had followed Akali-BJP policies and provided own coterie-driven governance. Once again he gets a chance for a makeover and to leave Punjab a better place to live than what he has inherited. He owes it to his voters.Judiciously spending the state’s limited resources ought to be his priority number one. A government exists for delivering services to people, and not for personal enrichment and comforts. A lean, mean administration can help cut the burden on the exchequer. There will be a temptation to beat the constitutional limit on the size of the ministry by raising a separate force of OSDs with ministerial perks or a battalion of chief parliamentary secretaries that serves no purpose and the state high court has ruled against such appointments. There will be pulls and pressures from party colleagues for sharing the spoils of office and it will be keenly watched how far the Captain allows himself to bend. While campaigning he had tried to mollycoddle disappointed ticket-seekers by promising posts in boards and corporations. Well, these state entities do not exist for adjustment of disgruntled political workers. Nor are these rent-seeking propositions. The electoral issue of job creation was for ordinary youth and not for party workers. The Congress manifesto, prepared by an idealist, Manpreet Badal, binds the party MLAs to a life without the VIP culture. The Congress has to re-establish its credentials as a party committed to serving the citizen. Its new government in Punjab has an opportunity to turn a page. As the tallest leader in Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh need not put up with shabby demands of shoddy “leaders”, in and outside the legislature. The Amarinder Singh who takes the oath today as Chief Minister is a much wiser and sober man; and he will do well — for himself and the state — if he can sidestep the trap of cronyism. The battle against favouritism and nepotism should begin on the very first day.
