Congress vs Congress

Uncertainty is back in Punjab as politics ducks behind closed doors and leaves the state even. Both the pro-Amarinder Singh and anti-Amarind...

Uncertainty is back in Punjab as politics ducks behind closed doors and leaves the state even. Both the pro-Amarinder Singh and anti-Amarinder Singh camps have pitched their tents in Delhi in recent days. It8217;s Team Punjab Bhavan against Team Kapurthala House now with the referee, as always, at 10 Janpath. Both sides claim majority support and they say the high command is working furiously at a 8216;compromise formula8217;. But it8217;s already clear that for the Congress, there are only losers here. Even if he stays on as chief minister, as in all likelihood he will, Amarinder Singh will return to Chandigarh a debilitated leader. And the Punjab Congress has shown that, much like the Delhi Congress recently, it knows how to make the party look like a loser, and so what if the going is not bad.

Till only a few days ago, the big story from Punjab was Amarinder versus Badal. Badal had been sent to jail and many, including this paper, expressed apprehensions about the peculiar cocktail of vendetta and crusade in the Punjab chief minister8217;s pursuit of the Akali Dal chief. But even so, it was undoubtedly Amarinder Singh8217;s hour in the arclights: his government had sworn to bring the corrupt to book and it could arguably claim to have netted the big fish. But before the chief minister could savour the moment, the big story had changed 8212; it8217;s the Congress versus Congress now. It wasn8217;t all unexpected, of course. Dissidence had been building up against Amarinder Singh almost ever since he was sworn in as chief minister less than two years ago, overriding the claims of senior loyalists in the Punjab Congress who had not left the party like he did during the years when terrorism ruled the state. They objected to his style of functioning, they alleged that he operated through a coterie.

Yet, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal8217;s timing is especially cruel. It not only makes it impossible for Amarinder Singh to concentrate his energies on his battle with Badal in its climactic moments, it also presents the high command with a failing state just after it has lost three in the recently concluded round of assembly polls. In the drama in Punjab, now playing in Delhi, is the narrative of a party that is flailing about for coherence and direction. For the sake of the people of the state, 10 Janpath must quickly bring both factions to heel.