While the chief minister is considered close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, his baiters draw their strength from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. The brother and sister see main baiter former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu as a leader with appeal among Punjab’s youth.

However, after all the drama played out in Delhi last week when 25 legislators and other senior leaders as also Chief Minister met a three-member panel led by the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. all that we know is that the committee, set up by Sonia Gandhi, after talking to the dissidents is against a leadership change but at the same time wants to accommodate the dissidents also in the party and the government in a reshuffle. Though the captain sought votes as his last chance to rule in 2017, he has now changed his stand that he will seek another term.

Congress is having a leadership crisis even at the national level. Rahul Gandhi, though not occupying any position is said to be taking most of the decisions. Even in the case of Punjab, both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have talked to the Captain in a virtual meeting last week.

This is not the first time the chief minister has faced dissension in the party ranks. With the support of Sonia Gandhi, the Captain survived the rebellion in 2005 but a similar crisis has engulfed him in his second chief ministerial term, with cabinet members and party legislators openly defying his writ.

Navjot Singh Sidhu the cricketer-turned-politician is leading the attack. The ambitious Sidhu may not command much influence over Congress MLAs or the cadre, but his rebellion against Amarinder has catalysed the dissidents. To the Captain’s advantage, though the dissidents have complained against the Captain, they do not agree on his replacement.

The recent outburst of animosity came as the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed an SIT report into the Kotkapura firing incident of 2015. Sidhu accused the CM of evading responsibility. The dissidents also claim that the chief minister is soft with the Badals. The drug menace which was one of the election issues in 2017 also needs to be addressed more robustly.

Sidhu started dreaming of becoming chief minister after he gained access to Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Senior leaders who are in the queue to succeed the Captain are dismayed about this. Sidhu also wants to become the PCC president though he does not have the capacity to take every one along.

Among the solutions being considered by Congress high command include a cabinet reshuffle, giving representation to more castes, and a bureaucratic reshuffle aiming to give a free hand to the elected representatives. There is a proposal to form a new campaign committee. The dissidents will be accommodated with these changes.

Factionalism is not new to the Congress party. But a weak leadership cannot continue to treat the states or encourage dissidents as it did earlier because the party needs unity. There are not many options left for the Congress leadership. The party has to ensure truce between the CM and the dissidents to face the coming assembly polls unitedly. Chief Minister has the capacity to lead the party to another win in the poll.So his hands should be strengthened but the CM has also to take others along with him. At the administrative level, the fight against the covid pandemic has to be intensified and the government has to make all efforts to fulfil earlier poll promises.

The Punjab assembly election will be one of the hot political battles in early February 2022. The other parties like the Akali Dal and the BJP too are trying to set their house in order. While the Akali Dal has severed its connection with its long-time ally the BJP last year on the farm bills issue, the two parties have declared that they would go it alone in the upcoming polls. Therefore Punjab is likely to face a multi-cornered fight. The BJP’s expansion plans are aggressive. The captain and a united party seem to be the best bet for congress.
(IPA Service)