It's a story of six families - related to each other - who ruled or as some would say 'ruined' Punjab. To get closer to the coveted chair of power, many of them switched loyalties and thereby their affiliations to political parties from time to time. As years passed by Punjab politics took the shape of dynasty rule of these few families, with most of the politicians belonging to these families ensuring that the next generation is initiated into politics as well. Thus, four decades have passed, but the state is yet to get a chief minister who is not from one of these families.
At a time when Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh are fighting it out, it would be interesting to know how it all started. Pratap Singh Kairon, the first chief minister of Punjab came back from Michigan University to join Shiromani Akali Dal. However, later he joined Congress in 1929 and was sworn in as CM in 1956. Till then, most of these families - Kairons, Badals, Majithias, Brars, and the Patiala royal house were kind of acquaintances. But then some marriages out of political compulsion took place - four of them over a period of five years - Capt Amarinder Singh and Simranjit Singh Mann tied a nuptial knot to sisters , HS Brar with Pratap Singh Kairon's niece, while Kairon's grandson Adesh Pratap married Parkash Singh Badal's daughter. Both Kairons and Badals are Dhillons by caste. These four alliances in the 60s were enough to ensure that power would remain with these families for decades to come. About four decades later, things haven't really changed.
Adesh Pratap was in Congress, but later joined SAD (B) because of his father-in-law Badal. If his sister married a Kairon, Sukhbir married Har Simrat Kaur, a Majithia. She is the daughter of Satyajit Singh Majithia , who was the deputy defence minister during Jawahar Lal Nehru's regime. Also, Badal's cousin was married to former defence minister Baldev Singh's son Surjit Singh. Surjit's brother Ravi Inder Singh was close to Badal at one point of time. Now he is heading a splinter group of Akali.
Like Badals, Brars too, are related to Kairons. The former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar, who became the CM after Beant Singh's death, is married to Pratap Singh Kairon's brother Jaswant Singh's daughter Gurvinder Rano. Thus, Adesh is Brar's nephew. Brar's daughter Babli Brar once fought elections against Badal's son Sukhbir Badal.
Brar's son Sunny Brar and Capt Amarinder Singh's brother Malvinder Singh too, are related, as they have married the daughters of a businessman from Delhi SPS Mann. Capt Amarinder Singh and Simranjit Singh Mann are related too, as they have married sisters Preneet and Geetinder, respectively
