The Congress has boldly and beautifully played its politics by appointing and elevating Charanjit Singh Channi as the Punjab Chief Minister, for it knows how it is important to retain Punjab under its governance, apart from Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, both of which have been marred by factional feuds and lowered the morale of its cadres.
The Congress, at all costs, is wanting to damage-control the unforeseen situation that heavily impacts the party’s electoral scope. I believe that reducing itself to a stop-gap arrangement will make the party politically insignificant and incompetent from becoming the main challenger to the Bharatiya Janta Party in terms of picking and piecing political negotiations, skills and strategies.
Thus, Punjab has aroused hopes for the Congress that has been at crossroads. As are the Akalis and the AAP who want to test their waters by riding on the anti-incumbency mirroring Amarinder Singh’s tenure as the CM. Thus, for Channi’s candidature, which was based on a compromise than a consensus, has to do with the practical reality of the Dalit vote bank in the State and how it will influence the outcome on 54 out of the 117 Assembly seats in the State.
Additionally, this will give an opportunity to the Congress to engage, associate and lend itself electorally to those sections and segments that were at odds with Singh’s leadership. Instead of taking the leaf out of it, the Congress should confront the crisis at hand responsible for the party’s sake.
Why is the party’s high command insensitive to someone who has worked wholeheartedly for the party in their capacity? Why is the party turning its back on the face of those who are more deserving of being heard and applauded? The Congress looks set in carrying the Punjab message ahead, except for the hiccups created by the ambitious and over-ambitious titans and their titles.
A Jyotiraditya Rao Scindia in 2020 and a Navjot Singh Sidhu in 2021 — what better can explain the degree of difference in the party? The approach, and not just the analysis, of the party must be corrected.