Such political and social bitterness has now become an integral part of our political culture.

Rebellion against the Halka In-Charge system Editorial: The step taken by Congress MP from Patiala, Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi, against the practice of appointing Halka In-Charge is a bold one. In an era of flattery-dominated political culture, speaking the truth can be costly for any political leader, but the honest words spoken by Dr. Gandhi should be heeded not only by the Congress but also by the leadership of other parties.

In a social media post, Dr. Gandhi has said that the party candidates whose deposits were forfeited in the assembly elections have been appointed Halka In-Charge. This practice is not in line with the organizational principles and culture of the Congress.

However, who appoints Halka In-Charge? The name of the leader who has appointed these in-charges and the orders issued by him should be made public. He opined that such a practice has prevented the access and progress of dozens of talented young men and women to party posts who have worked tirelessly to protect the party's interests and have also shown continuous dedication. This action is like destroying the talent and ability of such dedicated workers.

Already, two generations of such dedicated youth have been severely damaged by the constituency in-charge culture. Dr. Gandhi has warned that this "continuation of this practice and repeatedly giving positions, powers and party tickets to a few select leaders or their heirs is like a crime against the youth, the Congress party and the potential leaders of the country."

Although this post of Dr. Gandhi focuses on the appointments of assembly constituency in-charges falling within the Patiala parliamentary constituency, it is still a direct blow to the tradition of constituency in-charges prevalent not only in the Congress but also in other political parties. Political parties claim that the practice of constituency in-charges is an effective tool to keep party workers active in every constituency and make them accountable to party interests.

Apart from this, it has also proven to be a source of increasing coordination between the party leadership and ordinary workers. The constituency in-charge is a coordinator who has to take care of the aspirations of every party worker at the local level and also has to give correct political guidance to such workers. While all these arguments have weight, the reality is that making defeated leaders, especially those who lost by a large margin, as constituency in-charges is a clear disrespect to hard-working and honest party workers.

The unfortunate aspect of the situation is that instead of abolishing this practice, every political party has been continuously recognizing the ‘constituency in-charge culture’. This culture was started by the then Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal President Parkash Singh Badal after 1997. By appointing the losing party candidate from each constituency as the constituency in-charge, this party gave a direct signal to the bureaucracy and the police to ignore the people's representatives, i.e. the legislators, and follow the 'orders' of the constituency in-charge. This was a direct disrespect of the people's mandate. While it increased the conflict at the political level, it also increased the bloodshed.

Such political and social bitterness has now become an integral part of our political culture. It is also an irony that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which condemned the constituency in-charge culture till a few years ago, has also adopted this evil practice with as much fervor as other parties suffer from it. This is, indeed, an unfortunate trend.