As the Congress central leadership seeks to end the infighting in the Punjab unit of the party, of particular interest was how it dealt with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, a veteran leader and one of the party's three chief ministers.
Amid a perception of the Congress chief ministers emerging as not just mascots of the party in the national sphere but also power centres to reckon with, the party high command has in the process of dealing with the internal fights in the Punjab unit appeared to have also dealt a snub to Amarinder.
As dissidence flared up against the chief minister, and his bete noire, Navjot Singh Sidhu, launched a no-holds barred public attack against him, it is learnt that Amarinder and his supporters were unhappy with the manner in which his stature was being seemingly lowered. It is felt that the public spectacle of the Congress veteran being summoned to the national capital twice to appear before a three-member committee set up by party president Sonia Gandhi to look into the issues confronting the party in the state ahead of Assembly elections has done harm to not just Amarinder but also the party.
The Punjab chief minister is believed to have given his responses to the three-member panel headed by leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and comprising AICC General Secretary in-charge of Punjab Harish Rawat and senior leader J.P. Aggarwal with regard to the issues raised by state leaders. The issues include the sacrilege case, perception of inaction against the drug mafia and sand and transport mafia. Amarinder is also learnt to have complained about Sidhu's public outbursts against him, saying these would harm the party's prospects ahead of elections. He is said to be against any move to give Sidhu what the latter is believed to covet—the post of state Congress president.
However, Rawat, addressing the media with regard to the panel's meeting with the chief minister on Wednesday, informed that Amarinder has been asked to implement 18 key promises made in the manifesto for the previous Assembly election. This gave the impression that the party high command had prescribed to the seasoned politician a to-do list to accomplish.
As Amarinder met the panel, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was meeting leaders from the state, which included the chief minister's detractors, adding to the perception that Amarinder did not enjoy the central leadership's wholehearted backing. It is important to note that while he was in the national capital for two days, there was no meeting between him and the party president.
As Amarinder appears to have been snubbed, his Rajasthan counterpart, Ashok Gehlot, looks intent on proving his dominant position in the state Congress and has kept his bete noire and former deputy chief minister, Sachin Pilot, guessing on whether he will make any concessions to him and his loyalists.
Pilot's supporters have regularly been airing their grievances against Gehlot and have demanded that the promises made by the party high command, when a truce was called between Pilot and Gehlot last year, be fulfilled. However, 13 independent MLAs as also the six BSP legislators who joined the Congress are being projected by the chief minister as his shield against any move to force his hand.
While AICC General Secretary Ajay Maken has declared that the state cabinet will soon be expanded and political appointments will be made in line with the promises made to Pilot and his supporters, an indication of the chief minister's resistance to yielding space to his detractors has come from the independents and the ex-BSP legislators. These MLAs have attacked legislators close to Pilot, asking why should they be rewarded. The Gehlot camp has talked about the need to accommodate the independents and BSP turncoats in any cabinet revamp.
According to sources close to Pilot, Gehlot's decision to quarantine himself for two months at this juncture is baffling even though they expect him to abide by the party high command's directions.
“Agreed, he is a veteran leader and an important chief minister. But no chief minister can be bigger than the party high command,” said a source close to Pilot.
Amarinder and Gehlot, veterans and two of the Congress' three chief ministers, face dissidence in their backyards and a reality check of their authority vis-a-vis the party high command.
