Farmers Movement Archive

Congress ‘convinced’ Captain Amarinder trying to wean away Hindu voters

NEW DELHI: With Amarinder Singh finally announcing that he will launch a party and ally with BJP, Congress is convinced that he is angling to wean away Hindu voters in urban constituencies to dent the party in the Punjab assembly elections in early 2022. The idea behind the Congress renegade’s plan, as articulated by him, is what the party always suspected when it alleged that ‘Captain’ as Punjab chief minister was in league with BJP and Akali Dal. According to Congress sources, Singh is looking to polarise Hindu voters against the party. His idea is to provoke the key demographic against Congress by playing up the “Pakistan” and “security-terror” threats. Singh is expected to focus on his nemesis and Punjab Congress president Navjot Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan and his embrace of the Pakistan army chief. The former Congress satrap has been citing Sidhu and his Pakistan trip for a while now. The Hindu voters comprise an important segment in cities and towns of Punjab. Given Singh’s focus, many believe that Congress will have to assure the urban voters about its “mainstream leanings” to neutralise the Captain’s attempt. The general belief is that Singh is not concerned about gaining Sikh voters and his caveat for joining hands with BJP — protests over farm laws should be resolved — is more to provide him a cover to join hands with the saffron party. BJP has become a red rag for the Sikh-rural populace and Amarinder cannot think of joining hands with it without a resolution to the farm protests. In view of the challenge that may arise if Amarinder’s yet to be launched party brings about an aggregation of votes in league with BJP and splinter Akali outfits, Congress is expected to announce its election related committees to face the task. Many believe that the party will be putting as the head of the “campaign committee” and in key positions going into the elections, leaders that are well positioned to appeal to the urban voters. According to a leader, Congress faces a stronger challenge among urban and Hindu voters from AAP than from the possible front to be floated by Amarinder Singh.

The Times of India

2021-10-25

India