Bhagwant Mann could have been declared AAP commander for February 2022 electoral battle in Punjab much earlier, not as last resort

 

Kejriwal provides telephonic legitimacy to Bhagwant Mann as last resort choice of chief ministerial face

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Bhagwant Mann, president of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and MP, a few months back, appeared to be embarrassment personified as sitting along his side, his party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised to people of this border state that he would present them with an effective and some very prominent Sikh as chief  ministerial face for February 2022 Assembly polls.

The search ended in futility.

The next strategy was to project the last resort choice but this choice was sitting at his side when Kejriwal had made that announcement.

A strategy in the name of people’s choice was apparently worked out to provide legitimacy to the last resort effort and it was decided to go in for telephone calls and the exercise lasting couple of days ended last evening.

Bhagwan Mann was expectedly announced as party’s chief ministerial face around noon today by Kejriwal at a newly constructed hotel in Mohali.

The announcement did not have even dramatic effect as it was too well known that it was an exercise to cover up the damage that Kejriwal himself had inflicted by misreading Punjab as he had done in 2017. This legitimacy exercise borders farce but after all it has some pretence of functional democracy.

But then the people don’t elect a chief minister but a party. Of course, the party needs a commander while entering the election arena.

While announcing the chief ministerial face, Kejriwal should also have assured the people of Punjab that the MLAs would not betray them. The AAP had made big bang entry in Chandigarh municipal corporation but was failed by one of its councillors  who facilitated the BJP to get its nominee elected as the mayor.

The Congress  had earlier given out a loud signal that it would not opt for a chief ministerial face but indirectly  projected Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi under mounting pressure from its state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu who has vociferously been presenting himself as the likely choice of the people.

The Congress leadership in Delhi projected Channi as the leader by releasing a video that in itself amounts to announcement, although informal a few hours before Kejriwal made Mann’;s annluncement.

Now two leaders at the front are the commoners- the aam aadmi.

Channi from day one has been going around hammering his rise from the marginalised sections of society to counter Kejriwal’s claim of his party representing the common people. Both Mann and Channi can claim the heritage of the common man.

So is Balbir Singh Rajewal from the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha although he has not been formally accorded this recognition by his newly created party.

Nothing is in doubt so far as the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party is concerned as Sukhbir Singh Badal is the experienced person for this job.

But then is the basic issue that of electing a leader or identifying the basic issues that directly concern the people and providing hope.

With the situation being fluid due to the first ever 5-cornered contest in Punjab and high level of awareness generated by the agrarian struggle, the dimension of projecting a chief ministerial face is not that important.

Of course, the Punjabis this time can’t complain that their choice is limited due to Congress and the Akali Dal alternating each other. They had AAP as third dimension in 2017 and now the menu has still more choices.

Mann as the state party chief had little functional autonomy due to dominating role of Raghav Chadha. There is little indication that this situation is going to change now and this is the basic issue with this party whose leadership control is highly centralised.

Apart from projecting as their commanders, the political parties are trying to out-compete each other by way of offering freebies.

The basic issue is that of empowerment of Punjab at social, political and economic level, not the lollypops, and that calls for comprehensive approach and vision.

PS:

Enforcement Directorate today raided residence of a close relative of Channi and several others in a case relating to illegal sand mining.

Is Channi being targeted for confronting Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his remark of 70,000 chairs versus 700 attendees at Ferozepur rally?

The illegal sand mining has been a major controversy in Punjab for over a decade.