Issue and opposition: In Punjab politics, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) holds a strong position historically. The SAD is a right-leaning party and was formerly a coalition member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Formed in 1920, it is the second oldest political party in India, the oldest being the Indian National Congress (INC). Since there are other regional political parties with the word “Akali” in their names, the party is referred to as the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). Badal was one of the foremost SAD leaders. SAD’s electoral history is checkered despite its contribution to India’s struggle for independence. On 11 March 2017, the INC won the state assembly election, and INC candidate Amarinder Singh became the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. Amarinder’s tenure was marked with chaos, challenges, fake commitments, and underperformance. This dilemma action was organized by the BJP ally and opposition party SAD members to protest against CM Amarinder Singh and the state Congress Party for their incompetence in governance.
Dilemma Action: On April Fool’s Day of 2018, the SAD distributed dummy smartphones and fake currency to the public to remind them of the fake commitments and promises of Amarinder Singh and his party. State INC had promised that once in power, it would distribute smartphones among Punjab’s youth and create more jobs. None of these promises were kept after Amarinder won the election and became the Chief Minister. This was part of different types of demonstrations and actions against the CM by the opposition party members. April Fool’s Day was chosen to drive the message that the CM and his party were fooling the voters.
Outcome: The opposition party members were able to draw the attention of the public and media to the chaos and inefficiencies of Amarinder Singh’s government in Punjab. Social media platforms especially Twitter took up the story and disseminated the information. Soon, thousands of pdf people were sharing and retweeting this April Fool’s joke. But apart from these, no special concessions were made by the state government although it did provide all a good laugh.