An era in Punjab politics came to an end earlier this month with Captain Amarinder Singh resigning as the chief minister of Punjab. Captain and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal have been ruling Punjab for the past 24 years, spanning much of the post-conflict phase in the state.
To their credit, both these leaders did bring some kind of stability to Punjab after the traumatic 1980s and early 90s that saw Operation Blue Star, an armed insurgency, encounters, mass disappearances etc. But it was at the cost of several compromises.
Like most post-conflict societies, 'stability' in Punjab basically involved close convergence of state and elite interests and the creation of a patron-client network headed by these elites.
Even though the day-to-day life in Punjab became a bit more secure, many of the policemen who were accused of excesses, politicians, industrialists and middlemen who gained out of the conflict continued to wield clout under both these leaders.