Channi Accedes And Sidhu Has His Way Again
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-11-09 15:36:41
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Despite showing bravado, or maybe because of it, just a couple of days back, Punjab advocate general APS Deol was finally removed from his post when the Punjab cabinet accepted his resignation. Deol had accused PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu of obstructing the work of the advocate general's office and "spreading misinformation to gain a political advantage over colleagues". But in the end, Sidhu prevailed and chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had to accept the resignation after sitting on it for many days. Also being removed is DGP Iqbal Singh Sahota. Sidhu had objected to both these men as he said that while the former had represented two cops accused in the police firing case, the latter had been part of the SIT which had probed the case shoddily.
With this, the present 'hurdles' to Navjot Singh Sidhu resuming office have been removed and he is likely to start work from tomorrow. Sidhu had, while taking back his resignation as PCC chief, made Deol's removal as a pre-condition to his resuming work. But is having a PCC chief who will always try to impose himself on the chief minister, more so when state elections are so near and the Congress is fighting anti-incumbency, a good move? This is something that the Congress high command must work out, for the chief minister must be allowed to work with a free hand if the political gains of appointing a Dalit chief minister are to be truly availed. If Sidhu keeps interfering, then obviously the importance of the chief minister's office will diminish.
It is never good to have two power centres in any state. With Sidhu helming the party apparatus and having his way in most things, it is a given that people will run to him, instead of the chief minister, to get their work done as he will be viewed as more powerful. The people are also watching the power play. It will not take them much time to know that if Sidhu pulls the strings, Channi is just a showpiece chief minister. Hence, the Congress will have to decide fast who it wants as its face in the 2022 elections. Otherwise, along with anti-incumbency it will also be fighting against the bruised image of the party. The mix will be potent enough to throw the party out of power despite Sidhu, the farm agitation and the state of the opposition.
