Future of
Navjot Singh Sidhu depends upon Capt Amarinder Singh
Ground Zero
Jagtar Singh
In plain and
simple words, the future of newly appointed president of the Punjab Pradesh
Congress Navjot Singh Sidhu largely depends upon Chief Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh whose record till yesterday is associated with wilful non-governance.
At the
practical level, Navjot is a high profile new head of the marketing division of
the multiproduct company headed by Capt Amarinder Singh that is the Punjab government.
The job of Navjot is to market the
product produced by this company.
The state of
affairs of the company is too well known as to keep it going, Capt Amarinder
Singh had opted for outsourcing.
The record
of this company during the last four and a half years is dismal. There was no
other competitor till 2019 and hence this aspect remained virtually under wraps.
Moreover, the top leadership was impacted by some sort of inertia.
And that
exactly is the problem that the
cricketer-turned-entertainer-cum politician Navjot Singh Sidhu now confronts.
Would he
recommend to the board of governors to change the chief executive of the company
in case it fails to turn the corner? Only the future would provide answer to
this question.
Of course,
the workers are fully enthused going by the function at which Sidhu took over
his new job while also raising some fundamental questions like lack of grace
and public manifestation of absence of cordiality between the two top
executives from the marketing and the production divisions.
There is
nothing wrong in the assumption that the path to the survival of the Congress
is through Punjab. And the main concerns that are dominating the discourse in
this border state are the struggle for survival by the farmers that has become
national and the sensitive issue of cases associated with Bargari sacrilege of
Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 although that discourse started in 2007 itself.
The top
leadership of the Congress (read the Gandhi family) has handed over 18-point
agenda to Capt Amarinder Singh that concerns mainly the promises made by the
party in its election manifesto and its copy has been handed over to the new
state Congress chief.
With a copy of
this charter in his hand for time bound implementation, Navjot can only seek acceleration
and streamlining of the process and nothing more. His plus point is that he
would share only the positive result of the company that is Punjab government
but not its failure that would go into the account of Capt Amarinder Singh.
Time is too
short to produce results.
The only
issue in which he can take the initiative himself is the farmers struggle.
The villages
are adopting resolutions barring the entry of political leaders of every hue
and Navjot himself has faced protests.
He has to
approach the collective leadership of the farmers to work in coordination
without joining their stage.
One does not
know as to what happened to the resolution adopted in the Punjab Assembly authorising the chief
minister to lead an all party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for
the repeal of the three contentious farm acts and assured procurement of specified
crops at MSP.
Going by the
function at the Congress Bhavan yesterday, the relationship between the two
state leaders entrusted with leading the Congress to victory in February 2022
is characterised by frigidity. Of course, Capt Amarinder Singh tried to build
bridges but the response was that of indifference from the other side.
The state-craft
has its own culture and rules under
which the leaders from the ruling party have to work in harmony.
Moreover,
Navjot should also learn to differentiate between populist speech that is meant
for the audience at large and the one that articulates views and concerns of
the party. This calls for sobriety.
No doubt,
Capt Amarinder Singh has been reduced to minority. It is part of the political
culture among the national parties that the majority tend to tilt with the
leader chosen by the top leadership as in case of Navjot. This situation
sometimes creates false illusions.
The fact is
that Capt Amarinder Singh continues to be the boss on paper and it is he who
has to deliver. Navjot is only the state party chief. At best, he can only
complain to the top bosses about continuation of non-performance rooted in
non-governance.
Punjab
Congress has entered yet another interesting and guessing phase from July 23.
The
situation puts a question mark on the future of Capt Amarinder Singh.
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