Son shine in Cong: Punjab’s shadow cabinet

Last month, virtually every corridor of Punjab Bhawan and Kapurthala House was swarming with offsprings of leaders fighting their battle.

Leading the pack, of course, were CM Amarinder’s son Raninder Singh a.k.a Tikkoo, who is well-known for his backroom politics, and Bhattal’s son Rahul as well as son-in-law Vikram a.k.a. Lalli, who’ve been hovering around her throughout the crisis.

Though Amarinder’s adviser, the ‘‘high-handed’’ B.I.S. Chahal, was at the centre of the dissidents’ rage—till he chose to go on long leave—his son Nikku Bikram was an equally active backroom player. Another of CM’s close aides, Rana Gurmit Sodhi, has a son called Heera in the limelight.

Minister Jagmohan Kang’s son was there throughout the crisis and said to have cleared the logistics for the dissident dinner at Chandigarh Club.

Two other dissident leaders — Minister Tej Parkash and MLA Gurkanwal — are more famous for being their father late CM Beant Singh’s children. Now their sons are carrying on the mantle.

Other Congress progenies are entrenched in state politics too. Minister Santokh Singh’s only son Sunny is on the District Planning Board; Minister Jagjit Singh’s son Chindi is Jalandhar Zilla Parishad chairman while his daughter-in-law is sarpanch of Dhaliwal Kadian village. The entire family has been active during the crisis.

Ministers Khushal Behl and Raghunath Sahaipuri’s sons, both called Raman, were also proactive. Minister Gurchet Bhullar’s son is a serious contender for the Punjab Youth Congress top post which fell vacant during the crisis.

Backing up the list are MLA Raj Kumar Gupta’s son Kaku (a councillor); Minister Avtar Henry’s son Kakaji (member of Improvement Board); and Ramesh Dogra’s son Micky (Hoshiarpur district Youth Congress chief).

Much as others may smirk, Punjab Congress chief H.S. Hanspal won’t be moved. Not with his son Tikkaji Namdhari constantly by his side.