Congress legislator Navjot Singh Sidhu’s current continuous diatribe against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has, once again, led to idle chatter in the state’s political circles that the former cricketer-turned-politician is preparing to leave the party.
This is not the first time that it has been speculated that a disgruntled Sidhu - constantly at war with Amarinder Singh, or ‘Captain’ as he is popularly called – is looking for greener pastures. The matter has acquired urgency this time as the Punjab Assembly polls are due early next year and Sidhu wants to secure the best possible deal for himself, preferably in the Congress or even outside.
However, there is some merit in Amarinder Singh’s pronouncement that Sidhu has few options outside the Congress. With the popularity ratings of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal plummeting drastically following the farmers’ protests, it makes no political sense for Sidhu to join either of these parties. In any case, neither the BJP nor the Akali Dal is keen on the proverbial return of the prodigal son. Though he was a one-time BJP favourite, Sidhu had a bitter falling out with both these parties in 2016 following which he joined the Congress.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also an option, especially since it stands a chance to gain ground in the next year’s Assembly polls as the Congress is facing anti-incumbency and the Akali Dal is yet to recover from their rout in the 2017 elections. However, an ambitious Sidhu is unlikely to ditch the Congress unless he is projected as the chief ministerial face of the AAP.
But Kejriwal will not be amenable to this as there are murmurs that he is keen on moving to Punjab in case the AAP is in a position to form a government. Kejriwal’s role in Delhi has been diminished after the Modi government passed a Bill in Parliament designating the lieutenant governor as the government. A shift to Punjab will give Kejriwal greater functional autonomy as also a full-fledged state to rule. Moreover, the Delhi chief minister would not like to contend with someone in his ranks who has the potential to upstage him.
Sidhu realises that he has few choices and that it is best for him to continue in the Congress and instead build pressure on the party’s central leadership to give him a deal of his choice. He is hoping that his proximity to Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi will ensure that Captain is not allowed to relegate him to the margins.
Sidhu is currently insisting that he should be appointed the president of the Punjab Congress as this will automatically provide him with an opportunity to checkmate Amarinder Singh in the distribution of tickets in the coming Assembly polls. The Punjab CM has put his foot down and ruled out Sidhu as the head of the party’s state unit, but he is willing to give him a ministerial berth.
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Consequently, the voluble MLA from Amritsar East has taken to lambasting the chief minister regularly, accusing him of having a tacit understanding with the Badal family of the Akali Dal. Sidhu’s attacks have especially focused on Amarinder Singh government’s handling of the sacrilege issue.
This is an obvious attempt by Sidhu to stir up emotions among the Sikhs by reminding them of the 2015 incident when two persons were killed while protesting against the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. Amarinder Singh ordered a probe into this incident when he formed the government in 2017, but this enquiry report was quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Though Sidhu does not have many friends in the Congress, his outbursts against Amarinder Singh are being welcomed privately by the chief minister’s detractors in the party who also fear being marginalised by him. Like Sidhu, they too have upped the ante against Amarinder Singh and are pressing the Congress leadership to convene a meeting with party MLAs and MPs to get a first-hand account of their grievances.
They insist that Amarinder Singh be replaced before the elections on the ground that the party will pay a heavy price in the Assembly polls if he is allowed to continue as the chief minister. But like Sidhu, the disgruntled legislators are essentially safeguarding their turf and want to make sure that Captain is not allowed to corner all the tickets for his handpicked candidates.
Having fared poorly in the recent Assembly polls, it is imperative for the Congress leadership to step in and put an end to the factional war in the Punjab Congress at the earliest. But it is a tough call for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi as their powers have eroded substantially in the wake of a string of electoral defeats. They are clearly in a difficult position. Removing the chief minister a few months before the state elections is not a viable option. Mollifying Sidhu and the others is equally tough as Sonia and Rahul Gandhi lack the authority to ride roughshod over Amarinder Singh.
(Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based senior journalist)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors’ own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH