From PM dreams to super CMs and the “overseas landlord CM”: Punjab’s political hunger games

Party workers revived the familiar chant of “kattar imaandaar”, a phrase that has now graduated from campaign slogan to something close to a character certificate issued by the faithful. In politics, momentum is everything. One favourable court order can quickly begin to look like a political endorsement. For now, Kejriwal remains party convener. But if the enthusiasm of his Punjab colleagues is any guide, someone may already be polishing the résumé for the country’s top job.

SAD’s super CM scheme

If the rush within the Aam Aadmi Party to elevate Kejriwal from party convener to potential prime minister suggested that political ambition was running a little ahead of events, the rival camp demonstrated that the appetite for power is hardly confined to one party.

At a rally of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the conversation had already moved ahead to the next government and, more importantly, who would control it. Party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was projected as the future chief minister, though the proposed arrangement came with an interesting governance model.

His wife, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, urged the crowd to ensure that “Sukhbir ji becomes the CM,” before quickly clarifying that oversight would remain firmly in place. “We will control him,” she assured the gathering, adding that veteran leader Balwinder Singh Bhunder would ensure discipline. And if persuasion failed, she suggested with a smile that domestic sanctions, such as withholding food at home, might also do the trick.

Sukhbir, smiling on stage, appeared perfectly comfortable with this preview of supervised leadership.

The script then took a theatrical turn. Mid-speech, Harsimrat tapped him and suggested that Bhunder Sahib be declared the “super CM.” Sukhbir promptly obliged, even touching Bhunder’s feet on stage. In the spirit of delegation, he added that Bhunder could handle announcements as well. Punjab, it seemed, might soon experiment with a two-tier executive, one chief minister and one “super” version.

Rahul’s dressing down

If the Aam Aadmi Party camp was busy imagining a future prime minister and the Akali rally experimenting with the concept of a chief minister reporting to a “super CM,” the Congress stage in Barnala suggested that the queue for the top chair in Punjab may already be longer than the chair itself.

The stage was crowded with leaders who, judging by their body language, appeared to be quietly measuring the drapes for the chief minister’s office. The difficulty, however, was simple arithmetic. There were far more hopefuls than chairs.

Watching this display of collective ambition was senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Unlike the poetic praise heard in other camps, he appeared in no mood for gentle hints.

Taking to the microphone, he delivered what sounded less like a motivational address and more like a firm reminder that parties function as teams. Leaders, he said bluntly, must work together. The message carried an unmistakable subtext: fall in line.

For a brief moment, the familiar background chorus of Punjab Congress politics, the quiet hum of “future CM,” fell silent.

The effect appeared to linger. Days later, PPCC chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring announced at a rally in Chandigarh that he was not a chief ministerial aspirant. “I am not even a minister aspirant,” he clarified, in what may have been the most emphatic act of political modesty witnessed on a Punjab stage in recent months.

Of acres and fertile allegations

While rivals across parties busied themselves distributing future posts, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had a different task at hand, responding to an unusually fertile allegation. Opposition leaders had claimed that he owned hundreds of acres of land in Australia.

Mann chose to address the claim head-on at a party function in Bhullarheri in Dhuri, a venue that perhaps allowed him to settle the matter on his home turf.

“Will I buy 2,800 acres from people’s money? They think everybody is a thief as they are. They must have bought land overseas. That is why they think even Bhagwant Mann has bought,” he said, turning the accusation back on his critics.

The chief minister also reminded the audience of his long association with Australia, though of a very different variety. “In 2001, I had gone to Australia for the first time. I had taken Rs 50 lakh for 10 shows,” he said, recalling his earlier career as a performer touring for stage shows.

In a political season where leaders are being projected as future prime ministers, chief ministers and even “super CMs,” Mann appeared determined to ensure that at least one title was not added to the list, overseas landlord CM.

For now, he insists his only acreage remains the political turf of Punjab, a field where, judging by recent speeches, the competition for future titles is already being enthusiastically cultivated.