The Congress is finally moving close to resolving its leadership crisis in Punjab, ahead of the Assembly elections a little over a year away. This comes in the wake of the discussions that the former Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, had with party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and PCC chief Pratap Singh Bajwa with Mr. Gandhi.
What is emerging, Congress sources said, is that Mr. Bajwa, who has been at loggerheads with Captain Amarinder Singh, is likely to survive as PCC chief, largely because he is a Rahul Gandhi favourite.
It has, however, been made clear to him that he cannot aspire for the post of Chief Minister if the party wins the polls. Captain Amarinder Singh, the sources added, will lead the party’s campaign and be the face of the party though he will not be named the chief ministerial candidate.
This peculiarly Congress-style compromise has been arrived at as the party could not reach consensus on anyone other than Mr. Bajwa as PCC chief, while most people in the party agree that its tallest leader in the State continues to be Captain Amarinder Singh, the former Maharaja of Patiala. So even though he sulked and shirked his duties as Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, absenting himself from the monsoon session of Parliament, the fact that he defeated Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the 2014 general election apparently counts for a great deal — especially with Ms. Gandhi.
After two consecutive defeats at the hands of the ruling Akali-BJP combine, the Congress leadership knows that it is high time it took steps to end the factional fights in a State where it stands a good chance of returning to power — if it can present a united face.
This also comes in the wake of another former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal meeting Ms. Gandhi last week to try and resolve the crisis in the party.
Of course, till a formal announcement is made, several names, including that of Ms. Bhattal, are being bandied around for PCC chief. The others are the former minister, Lal Singh, and youth leaders like Ravneet Singh Bittu and Indian Youth Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
However, all that a circumspect AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab affairs Shakeel Ahmed told journalists was: “Leaders in the State should not make conflicting statements and we will try to address the issues as early as possible.”
AAP, a worryMeanwhile, the emergence in the State of the Aam Aadmi Party by winning four of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 has also been causing concern in the Congress. For till then, it used to be a straight fight between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine. Even Captain Amarinder Singh said recently that the 2017 Assembly polls may turn out to be a contest between the Congress and the AAP.
