The dissolution of the Punjab Assembly by the Governor, Dr. D.C. Pavate, has obviously upset the long-nurtured plans of the topplers who were getting ready to replace the shaky Akali Dal Ministry headed by Mr Badal by what could have only been an equally shaky and ramshackle coalition. No tears need to be shed over the exit of the Badal Government which, along with the Akali Dal itself, had been riven by faction and intrigue for months. Those who thought that the reunion of the faction headed by Mr. Gurnam Singh with the parent Dal under Sant Fateh Singh in November last would ensure stable government in the State would seem to have reckoned without the Akalis’ penchant for groupism and infighting. The present crisis which has sparked off some vague and unspecified charges of corruption against some of the Ministers by another Minister, Mr. Trilochan Singh Riasti, was but part of this factious struggle within the party, though his demand for a smaller and more compact Cabinet for so small a State was reasonable. Mr Badal’s reluctance to get rid of some of the Ministers on the eve of the Assembly session is also easily explained, as with the outgoing Ministers would also have gone some of the needed support in the Assembly.
