Captain Singh Takes An Aggressive Stand
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-09-23 06:09:48
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
As expected, the problems of the Congress have not gone away with the change of guard in Punjab. In fact, they have increased. Although the deposed chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh had not created any problems when Charanjit Singh Channi was appointed in his place, it is clear that he has understood that Channi is just a temporary appointee and the Congress will contest the 2022 elections with Navjot Singh Sidhu in the lead. Hence, he has renewed the attack on his bete noire while repeated the veiled threat about leaving the party.
Capt. Singh said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra are "inexperienced" and are being wrongly briefed by their advisors. He also said that Sidhu is a dangerous man and he will sacrifice anything to stop him from becoming the chief minister. With this, the Captain has sounded the war bugle loud and clear. But if the Congress has already made up its mind to move on (as its decision to replace Singh showed), it is unlikely to be cowed down by Singh's aggressive posture.
Since the matter is about the Captain and Sidhu, it is clear that the Gandhi siblings have decided to back the latter fully. Hence, it does not matter to them whether Singh comes on board, otherwise they would have tried to placate him in some other way. Although Singh is a prominent figure in state politics, has his set of loyalists and would have been an asset if he remains in the Congress corner during the forthcoming elections, if push comes to shove, the party is likely to move ahead without him if he makes the exclusion of Sidhu his main demand.
It is now clear that the Congress has taken a strong stand and will contest the 2022 elections under Sidhu. Channi might remain a side player to attract the Dalit votes, but he is unlikely to be made chief minister again if the party wins another term. How much damage Capt. Singh can cause and whether it will be big enough to cause a setback for the Congress will become clear closer to the elections or as and when Singh announces his future course of action.
