Not a day passes when insecure Congress leaders in Punjab try and harm the prospects of their own candidates. The latest salvo was fired by former Pradesh Chief and Chairman of the Campaign Committee, Sunil Jakhar, who made a laughable statement on Wednesday wherein he said that he was more popular than both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and PCC president, Navjot Singh Sidhu. He based this conclusion on his claim that after Amarinder Singh’s resignation, the majority of MLAs, more than 40 out of a total of 79, had backed him, as compared to other top leaders including Sidhu, Channi, and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. The assertion at a time when the Congress High Command is about to name the Chief Ministerial face for the ongoing Assembly polls can easily be viewed as the final attempt by Jakhar to get himself back in the reckoning or at least be considered seriously for a Rajya Sabha berth in the post-election scenario. Incidentally, seven Rajya Sabha seats would be falling vacant in the next few weeks and therefore aspirants would always try to extend their claim from now itself. Jakhar is apparently peeved since he was relegated to the background when Rahul Gandhi kicked off the Punjab campaign from Jallandhar and gave importance to only Sidhu and Channi.
He has now accused Ambika Soni of political apartheid as she had earlier stated that only a Sikh should be considered for the CM’s post after Rahul offered to make her the CM following Amarinder’s resignation. Jakhar has questioned how religion and caste could come in the way of arriving at a crucial decision. This was against the ideology which Congress stood for. However, whether Soni’s comments sealed his fate is something which only the Congress High Command can answer. Even the figures mentioned by him in his support are contestable since no one would officially authenticate them. The fact of the matter is that when Amarinder Singh resigned, the legislators who had gathered at the Punjab Congress Headquarters in Chandigarh, left the decision of naming his successor to the Central leadership. It was soon after this that Rahul Gandhi asked Soni to take over as the CM. She politely declined and said that so far as Punjab was concerned, a member from the Sikh community should be the head of the government, given that Sikhs constitute the majority. Jakhar, therefore, is needlessly putting pressure on the High Command by bringing up the question of his “popularity’’ amongst the MLAs, when he is himself not even contesting the polls. In the past, he had been asking for a ticket from Rajasthan from where his illustrious father, the late Balram Jakhar was elected to the Lok Sabha, multiple times. He has defied the High Command in the past and when Amarinder was at the helm of affairs, he would often state that the Congress High Command in Punjab was based in the Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, referring to the Captain’s residence and not at 10 Janpath. Yes, the High Command indeed took its own time in deciding on the Captain’s successor and in that context, several names including those of Randhawa were also discussed. Once the decision was taken, there is little point now in saying that so and so was more popular than so and so.
For those who follow Congress politics, it is his way of positioning himself for a bargain later. If he wants to be the CM, he should have at least contested from Abohar-Fazilka, which has more than 68 percent Hindu population. He is not the only one who is rocking the boat. The High Command can also be accused of putting the party’s chances in jeopardy by making a wrong decision on some seats. For instance, Angad Singh Saini, the sitting MLA from Naya Shahar has been denied the ticket, probably because his wife, Aditi Singh, who was the party legislator from Rae Bareilly, joined the BJP. The Congress is not likely to win from here. Channi is contesting from two seats, Bhadaur and Chamkor Saheb to consolidate Dalit votes in the Sangrur and Barnala districts. Rana Gurjeet Singh, a minister in the Channi government, who was once considered close to Amarinder Singh has been actively campaigning for his son, Rana Inder Pratap Singh from Sultanpuri Lodhi, from where the Congress has put up Navtej Cheema. Rana is himself contesting from Kapurthala on the Congress ticket. He is amongst the richest candidates in the election fray. Sidhu is also acting most unpredictably and flew off to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra to seek the blessings of the Divine Mother, for the success in his own election, from Amritsar East, where he faces an uphill task. He made a controversial statement on Friday attacking Channi by stating that the Central leadership wanted a puppet CM, whom it could manipulate. The Congress is on the verge of winning the Punjab polls but flawed management and poor coordination could lead to consequences, where AAP or its other adversaries wrest the advantage. The party must bring in some experienced senior leaders for monitoring the developments. Punjab is a unique state unlike other places since it has witnessed terrorism and militancy for a long period of time. Only a mature leader who is sensitive to the issues should henceforth look after its overall supervision.