Congress: Dissidence Brews In Punjab
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-06-03 13:31:57
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Serious trouble is brewing in another Congress-ruled state and this time it is not the BJP that can be blamed for instigating it. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had faced dissidence earlier too. But this time, Navjot Singh Sidhu is going hammer and tongs at him ever since the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the probe into the police firing after the alleged desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in 2015. The court had dismissed the case as nothing substantial was found in the probe and the dissidents are now accusing the government of having conducted shoddy investigation. Matters have reached such a point that the Captain is visiting Delhi today to meet a panel appointed by Sonia Gandhi to try to solve the issue amicably. But ahead of the meeting, six ministers reluctantly joined a virtual cabinet meeting called by the chief minister on Wednesday and there are reports that several MLAs have revolted against him.
The old guard versus young blood issue does not seem to be leaving the Congress. Ranged against the Captain are Pratap Singh Bajwa (the former Punjab Congress chief who was handpicked by Rahul Gandhi) and Navjot Singh Sindhu (the recruit from the BJP who never misses a chance to show how close he is to the Gandhis). In fact, so stinging were the barbs that Sindhu threw at him this time that the normally cool Amarinder Singh angrily charged him with planning to join the AAP. Sindhu in return posted his pictures with the Gandhis on social media and asked the Captain to provide proof of his meetings with AAP as alleged.
It seems that with state elections due in 2022, the younger leaders are making a strong pitch to prevent the 79-year-old veteran from leading the party once again. In 2017 they had failed despite a strong backing from Rahul Gandhi as the Captain had the backing of a majority of state MLAs. But the party might be looking for an alternative this time given Singh's advancing age. That might be one of the reasons why there has been no attempt to prevent the dissidents, mainly Sidhu, from needling the chief minister over the last one month. But the Congress needs to act fast and decide who it wants to lead as in the current situation the chief minister has not been able to look after the state properly. With elections due in 2022, anti-incumbency will set in and the party will lose another state due to its follies.
