MANSA/ MUKTSAR/ BATHINDA: Gurjinder Singh (20), a student of Nehru Memorial Government College in Mansa town, alights from a bus on a state highway in Nangalkhurd village and straight away orders tea at a grubby, makeshift stall even as cacophonic traffic races past.
"I will be voting for the first time but badlav chahiye (we want change)," said Gurjinder, sporting a style statement of closely cropped hair, trimmed beard and twirled moustache that is ubiquitous among the youth in this region.
Laxman Jakhar, the tea seller, claimed Gurjinder was only voicing the view of a majority in these parts. "People are fed up of established parties, for 70 years they have done nothing so the public wants to give a new party a chance," he said, his broken cycle cart a ponderous figure but a prized possession. The reference to the "established parties" is the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP.
The badlav chahiye sentiment is almost all-pervasive, at least in the rural parts of Punjab's Malwa region that has 69 of the 117 seats in the assembly. The yearning for change is a little muted in the urban centres.
"There is unemployment, drug problem, corruption and no development," said Kuldeep Singh, 34, a street vendor in Dhaula village, Barnala. "This is because of years of misrule," he said as heavy beats from a popular Punjabi song played from his mobile phone in metronomic cadence.
In Malout, Muktsar district, Surinder Singh (30) holds a tea cup in his greasy palm. A combine harvester mechanic from Lambi, Bathinda, the constituency of Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, Surinder said he was forced to drop out of school to earn money. "Go to schools and colleges and you will find them empty, there are no students, like me they have dropped out. People want a government that can provide good education and jobs," he claimed.
The badlav chahiye chorus appears to be driven partly by the growing unemployment and the drug problem, with the former fueling the latter. "When the youth don't get jobs they get into depression and then they do drugs," said Gurnandeep Singh (32) a farmer in Lambi.
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's latest unemployment report, over eight lakh people are unemployed in Punjab, with a big chunk constituting graduates. The report said over 16 per cent of the workforce with graduate degrees and higher educational qualifications were jobless.
The unemployment-cum-drug problem is driving many to send their children abroad for higher studies, never to return. "I took a loan to send both my sons to Canada, it is better they are there, here they will not find jobs and they will get into drugs," said Tejpal Singh, 54, a shopkeeper in Malout.
Echoing Tejpal was Karandeep Kaur (49), an acting principal at the Government Senior Secondary School, Ghuman Kalan, Bathinda. "The drug problem is eating into our society. I have only one son and I have sent him to Canada. Whenever our children here leave home their parents pray that they return safely," said Karandeep, her eyes welling up.
Almost all blame successive Congress and Akali-BJP governments for the mess, and that is why the longing for badlav. "If the government wants, it can stop the drugs in a day. No action is taken against drug sellers, only the users are caught and thrown into lockup," claimed Gurvinder Singh, 36, a six foot four inch farmer with a guttural voice in Kot Shamir village, Bathinda.
To escape the drug and unemployment traps, many rural youth queue up at Bathinda's numerous English teaching private academies to sharpen their language skills and clear the International English Language Testing System to go abroad.
"Most of our students are from the rural areas and the number of enrolment is increasing every year," said Arti Kaushal, an IELTS coordinator at Sky Bridge Academy in the heart of Bathinda. Figures presented in the Lok Sabha by MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan said between January 2016 and March 2021, 4.78 lakh people left Punjab for employment of which 2.62 lakh were students.
The desire for change has created a buzz around the Aam Aadmi Party, with the party also successfully creating a perception that it can do wonders. "They formed the government in Delhi three consecutive times, they must have done some good work that is why the people trusted them," said Lekh Ram, 47, a dhaba owner in Abohar.
Prompted by the noise around the AAP, party chief Arvind Kejriwal has descended on the state, a bandolier of freebies slung on his shoulders. But there are doubts if the party can win the elections.
"Yes people are looking for a change, but any vote for change is surrounded by a lot of noise, it may not necessarily translate into votes," said Pramod Kumar, director of the Chandigarh-based think-tank Institute for Development and Communication.
