Capt Amarinder as Punjab Cong Chief: It’s Only Half the Battle Won

Though Amarinder Singh has won the battle, the war of 2017 Assembly elections is yet to be won.

It took former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh an unrelenting battle waged over two-and-a-half years to wrest back the post of president of the party’s Punjab unit from his beta noire Pratap Singh Bajwa. Yet, even though he has got his much cherished trophy, his wings have been clipped with the appointment of former Union minister Ambika Soni as the chairperson of the party’s campaign committee and that of former Punjab minister Lal Singh as senior vice president of the unit – both eyesores for the former maharaja.

The battle royale spearheaded by the former Army Captain, had its moments of ups and downs. There were several occasions when his supporters said he would be restored to his post “imminently’’ and then there were times when there was anger and despair among his supporters. On more than one occasion signals emanated from his camp that he was thinking of floating his own party. Some of his loyalists also gave out the nomenclature of the proposed party and even the date on which it would be floated.

There were also indications that the prolonged battle was wearing down Capt Amarinder. Barely a month ago, evidently after getting frustrated by the delay, he had even said on record that Rahul Gandhi was not yet ready to be made the party chief even though he took a u-turn after a few days and said it was time Rahul shouldered the responsibility.

Battle Royale in Punjab

• Sonia Gandhi was reportedly in favour of giving the mantle back to Capt Amarinder, which Rahul Gandhi resisted
  
• Capt Amarinder had proven support of at least 35 of the 43 Congress MLAs in the state
• Amarinder Singh’s detractors pointed out that he had led the party to defeat in two consecutive assembly polls in 2007 and 2012
• The Congress high command made him party president but refrained from giving him absolute power
  
• He will be under renewed attack from the SAD-BJP as well as the AAP which is also eyeing the 2017 elections
  

Amarinder Had Sonia’s Backing

It was well known in political circles that while Sonia Gandhi had been backing Amarinder and was in favour of giving the mantle back to him, Rahul Gandhi had been resisting the move on the grounds that the party would see similar rebellion from other states if Amarinder’s demand was accepted. Even though Rahul appeared to have come under pressure from a majority of MLAs and had accepted in principle to anoint him state party chief, the prolonged delay in making the announcement had been taking its toll on Amarinder and his supporters.

There is absolutely no doubt that Capt Amarinder is the tallest party leader in the state. There is no better proof of his charisma than the fact that he emerged as the giant killer in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he defeated Arun Jaitley from a constituency which was not his ‘home’ constituency. He had been getting popular support during his parallel “yatra’’ throughout the state in the recent months and he had proven support of at least 35 of the 43 Congress MLAs in the state who would often attend his functions and join him for a ‘show of strength get-togethers’.

Amarinder’s Detractors

Bajwa and his supporters had been pointing out that the former chief minister had led the party to defeat in two consecutive assembly elections in 2007 and 2012. It was also alleged that the party had lost the elections due to his laid back attitude – an impression he had been seeking to allay by organising rallies, marches and protests in the state. So much so that he preferred to stay away from Lok Sabha, where he is the party’s deputy leader, to devote time in the state.

With the Shironami Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government facing incumbency after its nine-year stint, there is no doubt that the coalition leaders consider him the biggest threat in the February 2017 Assembly elections.

The latest decision of the central government to seek details from Swiss banks about the accounts of Amarinder’s wife, former Union minister Preneet Kaur and their son Raninder Singh, was also seen as a deliberate effort to thwart the chances of Amarinder being made the party president. Amarinder said in a statement that singling out his wife and son was a motivated and timed attempt to scuttle his chances.

Congress’ Smart Move

While the Congress high command has yielded to his demand to be made the party president, it has refrained from giving him absolute power. Ambika Soni is known to be close to Sonia Gandhi and is sure to keep a close watch. Lal Singh, who has been appointed the senior vice president, too is not in Amarinder’s good books as he had once attempted to topple him. The party high command, in a clever move, has accepted the resignation tendered by the CLP leader Sunil Jakhar, a close confidante of Capt Amarinder, but has not announced a replacement. Those close to Amarinder say that such an announcement could not have been made as the CLP leader is chosen by the MLAs and that, most likely, Jakhar would be re-elected to placate Amarinder.

The prolonged delay in taking a decision has taken its toll and much bad blood has been caused due to ceaseless fighting among the two groups in the state. Bajwa, who is likely to be inducted in the central decision-making body of the Congress, is unlikely to take the decision lying down. He and others opposed to Amarinder can, however, make only a marginal difference but the new party chief would now be under renewed attack from the SAD-BJP combine with the third force, the Aam Aadmi Party, which is also eyeing the elections, targeting him with renewed vigour.

Though Amarinder has won the battle, the war (of 2017 Assembly elections) is yet to be won and for that he shall have to take all sections of the party, including Bajwa and his supporters, to avoid the pitfalls of the past.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Chandigarh.)