Farmers Movement Archive

February polls will decide if Cong’s Punjab gambit was shrewd

NEW DELHI: The midnight coup that nudged Congress satrap Amarinder Singh out of the Punjab chief minister's office is a gamble which would be tested in the February assembly elections and decide the smartness or otherwise of the radical and surgical move. The descent of Punjab Congress in less than a year from seeing the assembly polls as an apparently one-way affair to a picture of trepidation among legislators about their prospects had the towering figure of Amarinder Singh at its core. The humiliation of Akali Dal in 2017 ensured the regional party struggled with regaining its credibility, given a debilitating blow by Singh's campaign, while the protests over the three new farm laws raised the prospect of a friendly field. Read AlsoPunjab: ‘Humiliated’ Captain retires hurt, Sidhu in race to take crease"I had made a decision in the morning. I had a word with the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi), and I conveyed it to her that I will resign today. 'I am sorry, Amarinder," said Sonia Gandhi when I spoke with her," Amarinder Singh told the media after handing his resignation to Punjab governorBut strangely, the favourable atmosphere of not so long ago gave way to a palpable sense of fear among MLAs who began complaining that the ground situation is challenging for the party as they chose to lay the blame at the doorsteps of Singh's administration. The sacrilege case - that was latched on to by the ambitious and maverick Navjot Sidhu - triggered a chain of events which propelled the former cricketer to the state president's post. Read AlsoSidhu unstable, dangerous, anti-national: AmarinderCHANDIGARH: Dubbing Navjot Sidhu as "anti-national, dangerous, unstable, incompetent and a security threat" to the state and the country, Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said he will fight any move to make the Punjab Congress president the chief minister of Punjab "tooth and nail". Making it clearSidhu's shrewd decision to use the powerful perch to amplify grievances of MLAs with incessant targeting of bete noire Singh, which reeked of reverse vendetta, ended with the change of the CM. Now, it is for Punjab Congress led by Sidhu to prove that the rocking of the ship was a smart move to douse the perceived popular anger against Singh. Read AlsoHow Sikh factor worked for, against AmarinderJALANDHAR: It was due to his resignation from Lok Sabha against Operation Blue Star that Captain Amarinder Singh retained his appeal among Sikhs not just in Punjab but in other parts of the country as well as in diaspora even as he joined Congress 14 years later in 1998. It was Bargari sacrilege andThe anti-Singh campaign has been driven by the claim that Aam Aadmi Party was gaining ground in Punjab and has even surpassed Congress in popular perception. Singh's camp consistently rubbished the assessment while calling it a devious plan to scuttle him. Read AlsoResignations have defined Amarinder’s political careerJALANDHAR: All his political career, Captain Amarinder Singh never played on the side-lines, hence his third resignation, although the first two were out of own volition, a perceived sacrifice that built his stature. The Punjab chief minister may be out for now due to compulsion but he can't beMuch would now also depend on the next step that Singh takes in the coming days. If he reconciles to the new reality and accepts an advisory position in the party, it would be a relief for Congress. But if he either breaks away, or uses his new-found freedom to undercut Congress, the party may have a serious challenge at hand. Read AlsoRevolt against Captain Amarinder Singh: A timelineNEW DELHI: Congress veteran Amarinder Singh's resignation as chief minister of Punjab has ended one chapter of dissent but thrown open another of uncertainty for the ruling party in the state headed towards elections in about four months. The Congress government in Punjab, which came to power inThe unknowns leave no exit route for Sidhu and the Congress leadership in case of a failure in future.

The Times of India

2021-09-19

India