Will Punjab produce a different ending for Congress?

Whenever the party has looked capable of winning a crucial state, it has often ended up fighting itself instead of its opponents. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are recent examples where internal rivalries hurt the party’s prospects. Punjab now appears to be following the same script where polls are due in a few months.

For months, the state Congress has been consumed by factional battles. One camp wants Amarinder Singh Raja Warring to continue as state president. Another wants former CM and Dalit face Charanjit Singh Channi to lead the party. Channi, himself, fancies being the CM face again. He has been preparing for it for some time now. His social media feed would attest to that.

However, neither commands support across Punjab. It is in this backdrop that the party deputed its troubleshooter, Bhupesh Baghel, to Punjab to resolve the dispute. Instead of choosing between the rival camps, Baghel made an unexpected announcement. He declared that Rahul Gandhi was the face of the Congress in Punjab.

It was a striking departure from the party's usual approach.

Punjab has traditionally been fought under local leadership. Whether it was Amarinder Singh or later Channi, the Congress relied on state leaders to lead the campaign while the central leadership remained in the background. The same strategy was followed in most states. Rahul Gandhi has rarely been projected as the party's chief campaign face in assembly politics.

The timing is also significant. Punjab is going through an emotional debate after the release of Satluj, a film that revisits the excesses allegedly committed during the militancy years, including the under the Congress government led by Beant Singh. The Congress has largely stayed away from the controversy. Ironically, the most vocal defence of Beant Singh has come from Ravneet Singh Bittu, his grandson, who is now a BJP minister. Bittu has taken on the political burden of defending his grandfather's legacy, allowing the Congress to avoid reopening one of the most difficult chapters in its history.

Rahul Gandhi also carries his own history in Punjab. Over the years, he has acknowledged several mistakes committed by the Congress instead of defending them. That has not erased the past, but it has distinguished him from leaders who avoid uncomfortable questions.

More importantly, his politics has remained remarkably consistent. Unlike several opposition leaders who shift their position depending on political convenience, Gandhi has kept his ideological contest with the BJP unchanged. He has not tried to soften that contrast or blur the differences. That consistency may matter more in Punjab than it appears from the outside.

The principal contest is still widely seen as one between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. In such a contest, the Congress leadership may believe that projecting Gandhi can unite competing factions while presenting a clear alternative to those parties which had battered it in the past – AAP, Akali Dal and BJP.

Whether that is enough to overcome years of infighting remains uncertain. But if the Congress goes on to wrest the state from AAP, there are a lot of benefits to be reaped. Nationally, Gandhi strengthens his fight against Modi ahead of the 2029 polls. The outcome of polls in the Hindi heartland states, Uttar Pradesh, where SP and Congress are coalition partners, and Uttarakhand, where the contest is between BJP and Congress, would also be crucial in building or damaging that image.

The Congress has seen the beginning of such a story before, several times. The question is whether Punjab will produce a different ending.