One recent morning, Manpreet Singh Badal journeyed from Punjab's capital, Chandigarh, to the small town of Tarn Taran to give a speech at a political rally. Normally, an Indian public official of his stature – he recently stepped down as Punjab's finance minister and is still a state legislator – would have a chauffeur, a red beacon atop his car, and a mini-motorcade of security people and other hangers-on.
But Mr. Badal will have none of it. He hopped in a Toyota Fortuner SUV and did the four-hour drive himself without those fancy trappings. The 48-year-old, who was on a state-wide tour to promote a new political party to contest next year's assembly polls in Punjab, has pledged that if he comes to power as chief minister he would rein in the VIP culture that has become commonplace in Punjabi and Indian politics.
Just about everyone in government in Punjab, he says, from mid-level bureaucrats to senior ministers, feel entitled to VIP treatment, and their displays of excess–such as turning on the red lights on their cars to circumvent traffic–have fueled resentment among citizens at a time when the state is facing great economic challenges.
"Politicians should behave like normal people," he says. "Red lights are meant for police and ambulances and fire brigades — for emergencies."
It's not that Mr. Badal has common-man roots. He's from a powerful family that has become a dynasty in Punjabi politics and owns a 250-acre tangerine farm. He has had some prestigious schooling both in India and in London and quotes the likes of Turkish founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Julius Caesar in conversation. But he's found issues, like a VIP culture that's run amok, that resonate with the common man and he has become a leading champion of reforms to get Punjab out of an economic funk and a crippling debt crisis.
On the 140-mile drive alongside wheat fields weeks away from h [...]
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