NEW DELHI: Nearly two decades ago, Harsimrat Kaur Badal stood at the Golden Temple distributing saplings under Nanhi Chhaan, a campaign that sought to connect two concerns confronting Punjab – protection of the girl child and the environment. The message was simple but striking.
Launched at the Golden Temple in August 2008, Nanhi Chhaan distributed saplings as “buta parshad” and promoted awareness around female foeticide and environmental protection. Badal became one of its most visible public faces.
Eighteen years later, the sapling has given way to a political memorandum.
On September 21, Harsimrat Badal launched a women-focused “Maawan-Dhiyan” campaign at Rampura Phul and Nathana in Bathinda, addressing gatherings, leading protest marches and submitting memorandums addressed to the Punjab Governor. Drugs, alleged police excesses, women’s dignity and financial support are among the issues she has sought to foreground.
On Tuesday, the campaign moved to Mansa and Sardulgarh. On Wednesday, Harsimrat visited Lambi and Gidderbaha.
Badal herself is now framing the campaign in broader political terms. “Women are not merely Punjab’s strength. Punjab’s future lies in the hands of its women,” she said at a public gathering in Lambi on Wednesday.
Women whom Harsimrat once addressed through social empowerment are now at the centre of a political mobilisation. As Punjab moves towards the 2027 Assembly election, the question is whether that association with women-centric causes can develop into a broader political connection with women voters.
Politics, however, did not wait for Harsimrat to choose the moment for a larger role.
On August 13, her husband and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal was attacked with a kirpan during a visit to a gurdwara in Nanded. Harsimrat was with him. The attack disrupted a political campaign in which Sukhbir had been expected to remain the principal face.
Harsimrat Stepped Forward
What followed was not the making of a new politician. She has been in electoral politics for nearly two decades. What changed was the role she was suddenly required to play – and the visibility with which she began playing it.
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