Channi turned out to be neither poor nor honest

Q. Could the party have won Punjab?

In hindsight, you are always wiser. But yes, the transformation that was sought to be brought about in Punjab could have been handled better. Changing the chief minister so close to the elections was in itself problematic. And the seriousness with which it should have been handled was missing. There was no succession plan.

Q. Why do you think changing the CM close to elections was problematic?

Under Capt Amarinder Singh, the party had won all elections in the state since 2017. Yes, it was felt that certain issues were not addressed. The sentiment on the ground was for a change. People did not want the status quo to continue. Therein lay an opportunity for the party. Had Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi met the captain one-on-one and conveyed the concerns of the MLAs to him, he would not have ignored the issues.

Q. But the party says Amarinder Singh’s credibility had taken a hit.

If there was a perception that he was hand-in-glove with the Badals and that there was corruption in the government, the leadership could have handled the situation with greater finesse and come up with a succession plan. The solution was not to impose Charanjit Channi upon everyone.

Q. Why do you say Channi was an imposition from the top?

After Capt Amarinder Singh resigned, representatives of the high command called up each and every MLA to ask who they think should be the chief minister. Forty-two MLAs voted for me. Navjot Sidhu got six votes, and Channi got only two. The lady sitting in Delhi (Ambika Soni) said a Hindu cannot be the chief minister, and eventually Harish Rawat announced Channi’s name. What did the party gain from this? It only made adversaries out of both Hindus and Sikhs. The high command went wrong.

Q. So the change of guard did not work for the party?

It was a wrong assessment that the sentiment for change was against traditional parties. They wanted the tradition to be changed. We should have provided them with that change by putting forth an honest face. It would have been a brilliant idea to show the Maharaja the door and bring in a dalit who empathised with the downtrodden. But the bubble around Channi burst when the Enforcement Directorate raided his nephew. That Rs10 crore was seized cannot be denied.

The medicine turned out to be worse than the disease and the entire narrative of an ‘Aam Aadmi CM’ collapsed. Channi turned out to be a cheaper version of the same old system. At least, Capt Amarinder Singh had charm and an aura around him. Channi turned out to be neither poor nor honest. In the end, he was only dalit and that is no criterion in itself to be a leader.

Q. Did you voice your concerns to the party leadership?

I had met Rahul ji five days after Channi took charge. He asked me to join the Channi government. I told him I cannot work with Channi and assured him I was with the party. While other leaders may have had differences with Capt Amarinder Singh, nobody questioned his leadership.

If Channi was such a great asset, why was he not invited to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting? Why was he not asked to campaign in Uttar Pradesh, where the Bahujan Samaj Party is dormant?

Q. Should the state Congress leadership be changed?

Sidhu cannot take people along. You need a leader who inspires confidence in everyone and can take them along. Also, the timing of Capt Amarinder Singh’s removal was so wrong. Harish Rawat was put in charge of Punjab in September 2019, and Rahul Gandhi had taken out a tractor yatra in Punjab in October 2020. Had the chief minister been changed then, there would have been plenty of time for the change to be accepted by the people.

Q. The decisions were all taken by the high command. So is it at fault?

They can be held accountable for at least as much as having reposed their trust in people like Harish Rawat and the Punjabi lady in Delhi. They should have discussed issues with the state president and with Amarinder Singh.

Q. Are you satisfied with the CWC's deliberations on the poll debacle?

I cannot comment on the CWC meeting as I was not a part of it. But I could not help but react to the praise showered upon Channi. How can that joker be eulogised?