oppn parties Congress: Realignment Of Forces In Punjab?

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Congress: Realignment Of Forces In Punjab?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-06-20 14:02:12

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The Congress' cup of woes in Punjab continues to spill over. After the rebels upped the ante against chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh last month leading to Singh visiting Delhi and the high command forming a committee to settle things, it was believed that a truce will be brokered. But it now seems that contrary to earlier indications, the problem is more complicated that just being a question of removing Singh.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the cricketer-turned-politician who left the BJP and the joined Congress in 2017, and who has been attacking Amarinder Singh, among other things, for his handling of the Bargari incident after the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the probe, seems to be the man who is not in the good books of both, the chief minister and the rebels.

It was believed that Pratap Singh Bajwa would make common cause with Sidhu in the fight against Singh but Bajwa today said that "no colonel can become a general overnight" hinting that he was against the high command giving any important position to Sidhu. This remark came against a strong buzz that Amarinder Singh had met Bajwa secretly and they had reached a compromise which will isolate Sidhu. Bajwa, though, denied meeting Singh.

Sidhu, meanwhile, said in an interview with The Indian Express that he was not "a showpiece" to be used for winning elections and then kept back in the almirah. He also said that it was unbearable for him to see "selfish vested interests overriding the interests of the state". His wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, today joined the opposition and six ruling party MLAs in criticizing Amarinder Singh for giving jobs to sons of party MLAs.

Hence it seems that there has been a realignment of forces in Punjab. Amarinder Singh and Bajwa seemed to have buried their differences and made Sidhu their common enemy. With elections due next year, the Congress high command will have to tread carefully as Sidhu is not likely to give up his fight against the "system" that he says is "controlled, manipulated and designed by two powerful families". How the high command handles Sidhu is the key to whether things will work out smoothly for the party in Punjab.

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