By Jaideep Sarin,

Chandigarh, March 7 (IANS) He flaunts a Mitsubishi Pajero in a cavalcade of siren blazing cars as he arrives at an upscale hotel here to host a dinner for journalists - 90 minutes late. Sukhbir Singh Badal is not the chief minister of Punjab yet, but he is certainly 'super CM'.

Those close to him say that Sukhbir has changed a lot over the last five years - becoming milder, mature and politically correct.

Always a heir apparent to Shiromani Akali Dal president and fourth-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir is now seen to be on the verge of stepping into the chief ministerial shoes of his 80-plus father.

From the days of being branded 'kakaji' - as Punjab's spoilt brat sons of influential politicians and bigwigs are called - to getting acknowledged as 'super chief minister', Sukhbir has travelled the distance long and fast.

The brain behind shunning the traditional image of being a party of 'jathedars' (Sikh clergymen) with flowing white beards, Sukhbir, 44, wants to take the party into the 21st century in a new, modern avatar.

Given his sculptor's skills - his profile mentions having won a north-zone clay modelling competition once - Sukhbir is all set to shape up the Akali Dal for the future. He is the MP from the Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency of Punjab.

The friends circle of this management graduate from Los Angeles' California State University includes influential people from North India - from Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Delhi and other places.

From asserting his authority on the state police and bureaucracy - some of whose members were responsible for the corruption cases and the prison days that Sukhbir and his father faced under the previous Congress government led by Amarinder Singh - Sukhbir's stamp is being felt in most decisions that his chief minister father is taking.

Take the state cabinet for example. Sukhbir's brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia - a first-time legislator - has been sworn in a cabinet minister. The 18-member council of ministers has four ministers, including chief minister Badal, from the Badal family.

In the run up to the state assembly polls Feb 13, Sukhbir was all over the Akali campaign, be it political rallies, ad campaigns, crisis management or getting people to switch loyalties.

His wife, Harsimrat, who otherwise manages home and their three children studying in Delhi schools, gave him the back up this time for the ad campaign and PR work for the party.

Sukhbir, who joined mainstream politics after being elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996, was a minister of state for industries in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998-99. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1998 general election.

He was a Rajya Sabha member during 2001-2004 before being elected again to the Lok Sabha in May 2004.