A DANGEROUS GAMBLE

PUNJAB CONGRESS

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

Late in the day on Sunday, July 18, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) appointed cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu to the post of Punjab PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chief. This marked a watershed in the protracted tussle for supremacy between Sidhu and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and is being read in some quarters as the beginning of the end of the Capt. Amarinder Singh era in Punjab. With assembly polls less than a year away, some say the AICC’s decision to promote Sidhu despite the CM’s fierce protests means it is unlikely that Amarinder Singh will lead the Congress campaign to win another term in February 2022.

Before the announcement, Congress general secretary and Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat flew to Chandigarh to break the news to the chief minister. Though Amarinder Singh said he would make his peace with the AICC’s decision, he also demanded an unconditional public apology from Sidhu for badmouthing his government. Even if this apology is tendered, it is unlikely the two will be able to work together—there is too much bad blood between them. This factionalism was on full display on July 19, when Amarinder Singh and Sidhu held widely publicised meetings with supporters in a show of strength.