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Power struggle in Punjab Congress intensifies pushing the party in self-destructive mode

 


Congress chief Navjot Sidhu steps up attack against own govt, latest salvo in context of Majithia

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

The Congress in Punjab seems to be getting deeper and deeper into the mess rooted in the power struggle among the top leadership in the run up to the Assembly election due in February 2022.

State party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has fired fresh salvo though indirectly at Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa who is also the Home Minister.

In his latest interaction with the news channel, he blamed “lack of political will” for delay in the arrest of powerful Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia against whom case has been registered under the NDPS Act relating to narcotic drugs. Majithia is seeking judicial remedy.

This ‘lack of political will’ comment is although veiled but at the same time, pointed attack on Channi and Randhawa.

Sidhu has been dominating the print and TV media during the last three days to hammer his ‘Punjab model’ and also to project himself as the ‘Deliverer’ in his interviews.

As the PPCC chief he must intensify the election campaign and as such, his media blitzkrieg is very apt and timely but the issue is that of content and the snide attacks on the functioning of the own party government.

Besides Channi and Randhawa, he has hit some other leaders too during his election rallies causing a lot of heartburns.

At the same time, he is the only leader presently who is talking of a ‘Punjab Model’ to resurrect the state from the deepening socio-economic crisis. The issue is not that of merits and demerits of his model but that of selling dreams to the people and he is marketing his model with full vigor.

However, the issue is that of the Congress failing to put up a united face on the poll eve. This is what is now worrying a section of the party, including some ministers.

Rana Gurjit Singh is the only minister who joined issues with Sidhu publicly while others have resorted to ‘wait and watch’ attitude due to total uncertainty.

In all his interviews, he has been consistent in asserting that he is the leader who can deliver and that the people would elect such a leader in the forthcoming election. It is a different dimension that the people elect MLAs and not a leader to lead them. It is for the party to project some leader as the chief ministerial face.

Sidhu today referred to this aspect in today’s interview pointing out that the Congress had chief ministerial face in Capt Amarinder Singh while the Aam Aadmi Party failed to project such a face and lost.

It may be mentioned here that the Congress had recently made it clear that the election in Punjab would be led by the joint leadership. It is since then that Sidhu has intensified his lobbying in public for getting projected as the campaign leader and thereby the chief ministerial face.

The problem with the Congress is that it is for the first time that the marginalized sections have got consolidated unlike never before with the choice of Channi as the chief minister who belongs to the these sections. Punjab has the Dalit polutaion at about 32 per cent, the highest in India. This section has earlier never been homogenous or a monolith and is characterized by sub-sections like Ravidassias and Balmikis.

This consolidation has been observed at some of the rallies addressed by Channi. Of course, Punjab is the state that has never been deeply divided along these lines but layers is there, although blurred as compared to states like UP and Bihar.

The worsening situation is a challenge to the party’s central leadership as Sidhu was inducted into the party by Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka.

However, going by the state of affairs, the party is in self-destruction mode.

Desperate situations call for drastic solutions.

 

 

 


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