Picture : Twitter / ANI
The forthcoming assembly polls in Punjab 2022 is not only important for the Congress but also for its belligerent PCC Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. It is known that Punjab had a stable government under the able and experienced Capt Amarinder Singh. But it was Sidhu’s ambition saw him get into an ugly war of words with the incumbent Chief Minister.
A peeved Amarinder apparently had enough of Sidhu’s repeated criticism and tantrums quit the party to form his own party the Punjab Lok Congress and eventually forming an alliance with the BJP . A move that surprised political pundits.
With Amarinder out , Sidhu as PCC Chief many thought would be the front- runner as Chief Minister. But the party sprung a surprise when it named a first Dalit as Punjab Chief Minister – Charanjit Singh Channi. Sidhu had a major say in his selection courtesy his rapport with the Gandhi duo – Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
When the poll dates were announced , Navjot Singh Sidhu asked the party leadership to name its CM face. former president Rahul Gandhi , during a visit was asked by Sidhu and Channi to name the CM candidate. But to surprise of Sidhu , the inner party survey later on tilted in favour of Charanjit Singh Channi as the Chief Ministerial face of the party.
This move by the party has now left Sidhu in the lurch. He has now no option but to back Channi . Earlier there were reports of Sidhu’s cosying up to Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP. But the CM post in AAP is now a closed chapter with the party already naming Bhagwant Mann as it’s chief Ministerial candidate. Mann is currently the AAP’s Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur constituency, Punjab. So , as now of now Sidhu is facing a prospect of political oblivion if Punjab results do not go the Congress way . After all he had got from the Gandhi’s what he wanted . Now the pressure is on to deliver or perish.
With Sidhu at the helm as PCC Chief , Punjab Congress is a divided house. This is not a situation that a party wants ahead of the polls. Senior Congress leader and former I&B Minister Manish Tewari has often expressed his displeasure at the way the party is run in the state. That Tewari has not been named in the campaign panel tells the story of internal dissent within the party .
It was internal dissent that saw The Congress lose Madhya Pradesh and Assam to the BJP with the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Himanta Bisswa Sarma . In MP, The Congress old guard duo of Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath are said to be responsible for Jyotiraditya’s exit. Jyotiraditya since is having the last laugh with him becoming a Rajya Sabha MP and Union Civil Aviation Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Very much like Nath and Singh, Sidhu’s theatrics ( leading to Amarinder’s exit, Just Like Jyotiraditya) now threatens another Madhya Pradesh and Assam like situation for the party in Punjab .Mind you in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh where Congress is in power there are murmurs of dissent too. So, to Lose Lose Punjab now it will be catastrophic for the party.
Lastly, Apart from Punjab the results in other states are absolutely vital for the Congress and it’s hope of revival . Having fared miserable in the last round of assembly polls in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu( only solace alliance with DMK) it is pertinent for Congress to fare well in the five poll bound states in 2022.
A failure would not only mean a severe jolt for the party’s dream to replace the Modi Government at the Centre in 2024 , but also stare of losing the role of principal opposition to regional parties against the BJP . So March 10, 2022 is D- Day For Congress and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
