The unceremonious dethroning of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Punjab was a harebrained idea of the Gandhi siblings. Mr. Singh — war veteran, scion of the Patiala royal family, and a Congress war horse who led the party to victory — was ignominiously booted out by the Congress high command despite being credited with stopping in Punjab the saffron wave of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that swept the nation after Narendra Modi rode to power at the Centre.
The sacking of Mr. Singh was a supreme irony. The legitimately elected leader was ousted by the Congress high command comprising Sonia Gandhi, an interim ad hoc president of the party; Rahul Gandhi, who abruptly resigned as president without putting in place any succession plan but continues to be de facto president intervening and interfering at will; and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was for long fluttering in the wings but has been anointed as in-charge in Uttar Pradesh to oversee the elections.
A foolish idea
A good leader who is secure and does not hanker after praise will not encourage dissidence that destabilises his own State government. It is well known that Mr. Singh is not given to fawning and has a mind of his own.
On the other hand, Navjot Singh Sidhu, his greatest critic, is temperamental and unpredictable. He deserted the BJP and flirted with the idea of joining the Aam Aadmi Party. He joined the Congress just prior to the last election and became a Minister under pressure from the high command. He had to step down soon after, as he openly and frequently crossed swords with Captain. Appointing Mr. Sidhu as Congress president of Punjab and unleashing him to undermine Mr. Singh because of his streak of independence was a foolish idea of the Gandhis.
This is not an attempt to give a clean chit to Mr. Singh on his record of governance. He had many faults and had made many enemies. He may have been incompetent as an administrator, he may have failed to deliver on the election promises of the party, and he may have been inaccessible to his MLAs with his imperious ways, but the method adopted by the Congress high command to undermine him was imprudent and self-damaging. Mr. Singh’s performance should have been reviewed objectively and diligently. The complaints of his colleagues could have been conveyed to him in confidence. He could have been warned of stern action if he didn’t mend his ways. Due process should have been followed to remove him. He deserved to be treated with dignity and grace given his age, stature, long service in the Congress, and the esteemed chair he occupied.
The Gandhi high command is no different from other high commands. No party in India, either national or regional, has inner party democracy. They are all controlled by an individual or a family. “Difference of opinion is the one crime Kings don’t forgive,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. That is the bane of Indian democracy.
Still finding their feet
But Mr. Gandhi and Ms. Vadra would be delusional in comparing themselves to Mr. Modi or Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress or K. Chandrashekar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi or M.K. Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The others are unquestioned leaders of their parties while the Gandhi siblings are yet to find their feet; they are not hammered and shaped well in the furnace of politics. They lack the tenacity and grit of other party supremos. They forget that their writ in the party does not run. Twenty-three senior Congress leaders have openly challenged them. Many Congress leaders have migrated to the BJP. The party is facing a crisis in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. It is in a shambles in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. This was not the right moment to draw Mr. Singh into battle, especially since he still has a large following among the Sikhs. He declared that he will keep his political options open and met the Union Home Minister on Wednesday. The Sidhu saga is the chronicle of a farce foretold. Mr. Singh’s characterisation of him as being “unstable” has proved to be true and was foreseen by many. The volatile president resigned from his post after wreaking havoc.
The best politicians and generals choose their battles wisely. But the Gandhis have opened up one more battlefront in Punjab with the formidable Mr. Singh when their party has a shaky hold on other States and is in danger of disintegrating. A certain victory in the Assembly elections in Punjab, where the BJP is weak and the Akali Dal is in disarray, now seems a sure defeat for the Congress. May wisdom dawn on the Gandhis to save the Grand Old Party from extinction. India, now more than ever, needs a robust and vibrant Opposition that fashions itself after Jawaharlal Nehru and not Indira Gandhi.
Captain G.R. Gopinath is founder of Air Deccan
