Congress ‘High Command’ concedes failure of Strongman
Amarinder to deliver
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
Close to the February 2022 Assembly elections in Punjab, the
Congress Party that rules in this border state presents theatre of the absurd. At
one level, the situation is comical.
The people of Punjab gave the strongest ever mandate to the
Congress in February 2017 to end 10- year rule of the Akali Dal-BJP government
headed by Parkash Singh Badal with his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who later took
over as the Deputy Chief Minister, being the de facto Chief Minister.
The Congress captain in this fight against the Akalis was
Capt Amarinder Singh.
It is the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh that has come
to be questioned by a strong section of the party and interestingly, that
section is not backing any other leader in case the Chief Minister is to be
replaced. The basic issue is non-governance that can hit the fortune of the
party hard in February 2022.
None else can be blamed for this state of affairs as Capt Amarinder Singh
remained unquestioned leader for four years. The problem is rooted in his model
of governance. The trouble started as perception building up that Capt
Amarinder Singh has failed to perform on all the crucial fronts that include the
sensitive issue of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and the related incidents in
2015, drug smuggling, mafia control of transport and sand mining etc. Issues
like staggering unemployment are different.
Certain dimensions regarding the persona of Capt Amarinder Singh
must be taken into consideration before analysing the current mess.
He is family member of the House of Gandhis and friend of
Rajiv Gandhi from the Doon School days. The ties between the Patiala Royals and
the House of Gandhi-Nehru rather predates that relationship. Given this
background, he never had any problem in meeting Sonia Gandhi.
However, as the Gandhis, including the next generation, intervened to stem the revolt, Amarinder had
to contend himself by present his side of the story to the 3-member panel constituted
by Sonia Gandhi. There was a time when he never bothered even for the state
incharge of the party appointed by the Congress president.
He returned to Chandigarh yesterday after giving a 3-hour
presentation to the panel while Rahul Gandhi himself met several other leaders
from Punjab including MLAs.
He was given 18-point assignment and told to complete the task within a given time
frame just like a school teacher who reprimands a student for not performing.
In the process, the
party has conceded that its government in Punjab has failed the people on the
performance front.
What better scenario the opposition parties can expect?
But then there is also the question mark even on the
opposition parties on the performance front. However, the issue here is the report
card of the ruling card and Capt Amarinder Singh.
There is very discernible change in the functioning of Capt
Amarinder Singh ever since the lava erupted against him in the cabinet meeting.
He has started functioning from his official residence. He had
at one stage shifted to his farm house from the official residence.
Unlike his neighbouring counter-part in Haryana (going by both
official residence and office), he does not function from his office in the
Punjab civil secretariat, the headquarters of the state government.
The perception among the Congress ministers and MLAs that
the party can’t effectively fight back the Akali Dal and the AAP, the two major
challengers, under the given situation throws up the all- important question. That
question is what next.
The options under discussion also includes working out some
arrangement under which the effective command of the February 2022 battle is with
some other leader. But then the the present government would have to fulfil at
least the major promises made to the people
before February 2017 polls. There can be no excuses and these promises would
have to be fulfilled to the satisfaction of the people, not of the Chief
Minister.
Going by the massive mandate in February 2017, Punjab was
the state from where the Congress could have staged a come-back through model
governance.
Now the performance of Capt Amarinder Singh has been
questioned by not just a section of his ministers and MLAs by also the ‘High
Command’.
This is going to pose lots of problems in the coming months.
Punjab is in turmoil . May take a little time before the real picture finally emerges . How the Congress will set its house in order soon to face 2022 Assembly elections . Must address anti-incumbency factor before dissidents and the opposition take any advantage of it . Dark clouds are threatening with fearsome lightening over Captain’s sarkar now .
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