Congress change of guards in Punjab linked to ‘Conquest of India" Mission..... But the 'move' to contest polls under the leadership of Navot Singh Sudhu may boomerang in the ultimate.
Congress high command is also making moves to replace 83-year-old Mizoram Congress veteran Lalthanhawla, who has been also Chief Minister and the 'sole face' of Congress party in the northeastern state.
North East veteran Lalthanhawla
New Delhi:
Politics is an unfinished journey. The traverse in time and space would involve trial and error.
This is what India’s grand old party, the Congress, has done by changing its Chief Minister in Punjab. This is a province in north India where the Congress remains immensely strong at the grassroots despite electoral reverses it faced in different parts of the country.
A former army officer Capt (Retd) Amarinder Singh, who fought 1965 war against Pakistan and also an immensely popular face among Congress leaders, has been replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit by Caste.
The Congress would require a definite and a big margin win in Punjab polls due
February-March 2022.
They are equally keen to give Narendra Modi a run for money in his native state of Gujarat where polls are due in December 2022.
Gujarat elections used to be like a walkover for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The nervousness is in the air, alleges Congress, as the saffron party has changed its chief minister and entire council of ministry only a weak back in Gujarat, which is also called the Hindutva laboratory.
In contrast, Punjab is a land of valiant Sikh community, yet the ‘Hindu past’ of caste and other prejudices remain quite strong in the province that shares a 600 km border with a belligerent neighbour Pakistan.
Across the border also there is ‘another Punjab’, that is obviously Muslim majority.
For the Congress party in India winning next round of assembly elections in Punjab state is crucial.
The grand old party’s sort of revival journey after 2014 electoral debacle – with its all time poor performance – started with a convincing win in 2017.
Obviously Capt Amarinder Singh was given his due credit for mustering victory.
For sometime around 2018 – Punjab was the only of 29 Indian states where Congress had a Chief Minister. "Capt Amarinder had a free hand and as complaints came we had to act," said Congress leader Harish Rawat, who along with Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka executed the transition exercise.
But now the 79-year-old veteran has been replaced, and the party thinks it is best to bank on a new Chief Minister Channi, a Dalit.
In fact, a few months back, the Congress central leadership in Delhi brought a cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state unit chief.
Right from beginning Sidhu had strong differences with the former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
One major difference being Sidhu’s decision to attend Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan’s swearing in as the Prime Minister in 2018.
India-Pak relationship has never been without the usual love-hate elements.
Sidhu, then a Minister under Capt Amarinder Singh in the Punjab province, went to Pakistan defying the Chief Minster for the grand ceremony and in public glaze embraced Pak army chief Gen Javed Bajwa.
Sidhu, however, had Rahul Gandhi's nod to make the visit.
Amarinder hit back at Sidhu for the gesture and said, “As a former Indian army officer, I condemn such act of embracing a Pakistani general who is on daily basis sending intruders and terrorists to India".
Now hardly four-five months before assembly elections in Punjab, the Congress leadership realises it well that the differences between Sidhu and Amarinder would cost the party dearly.
This was certainly one reason for showing doors to Amarinder despite the fact that he has been a friend of former PM Rajiv Gandhi – whose lawmaker son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Gandhi now call the shots in the party.
 |
| Who will have the last laugh ? |
Paradoxically, their mother Sonia Gandhi is the Congress president and both Sonia and Capt Amarinder have shared good political and personal equations for years.
“Rajiv Gandhi was one year junior to me, but we were great friends since school days in 1954. Rajiv’s children are like my children. I did not expect this kind of treatment,” an upset Amarinder said after putting in his papers.
However, the political takeaway in the big picture scenario from Punjab is something more deep and of much more significance.
In making a Dalit the Chief Minister of India’s agri-rich food bowl province, the Congress leadership is trying to give a bigger message to the vast Dalit community across the nation.
Dalits are also called Scheduled Castes. An estimated 17 per cent of Indians are Dalits and these include Sikhs. In addition, there are sizable Christian population, who also want social and community recognition as 'Dalit Christians'.
“People talk about the soul of India, but in Indian politics there is also something called ‘soul of the Congress party’. That soul is yearning for uplift of Dalits and other deprived sections. Congress understands it well and so they have been making nationwide attempts to win back Dalitswhich for multiple reasons deserted the party,” says Varanasi-based Tushar Bhadra.
His analysis has merits as only early this year, Rahul Gandhi personally took the initiative to make a Dalit – Mallikarjun Kharge – the new Leader of the Opposition in India’s Upper House of Parliament – the Rajya Sabha.
Importantly, Kharge was given the post replacing a popular Muslim and a former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
“I agree that politics is a journey of trial and error,” says political observer Vidyarthi Kumar adding the new Congress leadership is only trying to build up a strong case of winning over Dalits.
Kumar further says, “In Hindu socio-political realm, Dalits are part of BJP’s Hinudtva politics and in last few years, a large number of Dalits have been voting for Narendra Modi’s party and candidates”.
Thus, in the 'Punjab political exercise' also, there is a bit of social engineering by Congress for both at the local and national levels.
Incidentally, Channi is the first Dalit Chief Minister in a state that has 32 percentage of Dalit population.
A congress strategist says this Dalit outreach would fetch Congress votes in Punjab and also in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state which would also go to the polls around the same time with Punjab.
The BJP now ruling Uttar Pradesh has big stakes there and shaking the Dalit support base towards Congress can upset the saffron party.
“There is already a major case of rape of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh and it is a handle against the BJP,” the Congress strategist said.
He also pointed out that in 2020, the Congress party has decided to take out Dalit Yatras (road shows).
Dalits make up at least 20 per cent of the population in Uttar Pradesh. But another hardcore anti-Congress, anti-BJP party Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) under a woman Dalit leader generally wins a large chunk of Dalit votes.
The Congress machinations have other agendas too.
India’s grand old party smarting from the 2014 and 2019 electoral defeats at the hands of BJP now have to do well in these coming elections and also in other states where it has lost base for decades now.
In order to stay relevant, the Congress has to expand its ‘already shrunk support base’.
Besides Punjab, at present the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Maoists-hit Chhattisgarh.
It is sharing power with other anti-BJP regional outfits in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. In Tamil Nadu also it is an ally of a regional party DMK, but the Congress base is almost nil.
“The challenge before the Congress to stay relevant to fight Modi and the BJP in 2024 is also to gain some ground it lost decades back in states such as Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,” says Vidyarthi Kumar.
Besides fighting BJP, the Congress has to get back its 'national rhythm and appetite' to fight Modi in 2024.
Otherwise, Kumar says: "Some regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee, who won majorly against BJP in Bengal in May 2021, will come forward to take on Modi pushing Congress down the ladder".
A defeat in Uttar Pradesh will be, of course. hard for the BJP to swallow and it will expose political limitations of Narendra Modi as well as UP chief minister and a monk-politician Yogi Adityanath.
Earlier this year, Congress lost an important election against Marxists in Kerala.
The Communist Party of India (Marxists) are of course strong Congress allies at the national level against the BJP.
Lately in Kerala, Congress leadership has tried to come out of the party’s major malady – the infighting and factionalism.
“It is tough to avoid groupism but the Kerala experiment is successful so far,” says Congress general secretary K C Venugopal.
However, anyone following Congress knows that 'factionalism' just becomes ‘easily available inherent’ culture of the party.
In north eastern states such as Nagaland and Meghalaya, factionalism is prevalent in a big way.
Sheer factionalism led to Congress debacle in Assam polls early this year.
The formal anointment of Vincent Pala as new state unit chief in Meghalaya has been opposed by a powerful faction led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma.
Worse, in these tribal states – things often take parochial shape as several Garo tribal Congress leaders back fellow tribeman Sangma and are against Vincent Pala, a Khashi tribe leader.
Ends
Congress' revival journey: It's all about making the right beginning (IANS Opinion, Sept 22, 2021)
Do not be surprised if another veteran Congressman, Lal Thanhawla from Mizoram , also steps aside like Capt Amarinder Singh in Punjab. The Congress high command is already making moves to replace the 83-year-old Congress veteran, who also holds the distinction of being Congress chief of his state since 1973.
Lal Thanhawla holds the record for being the longest-serving Chief Minister of Mizoram, occupying the position for five terms -- 1984 to 1986, 1989 to 1993, 1993 to 1998, 2008 to 2013, and 2013 to 2018. In 1986, he stepped aside facilitating the takeover by former rebel leader Laldenga of Mizo National Front (MNF) as part of the famous Mizoram Accord inked by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Well, there is no permanence in politics. Even Capt Amarinder Singh has been a friend of the Rajiv-Sonia parivar, but that did not prevent his ouster.
Politics is an unfinished journey. The traverse in time and space involves trial and error. This is what India's grand old party, the Congress, has done in changing its Chief Minister in Punjab. This is a province in north India where the Congress remains immensely strong at the grassroots despite electoral reverses it suffered in different parts of the country.
Of course, it has lost elections to the Akalis, but could also make comeback. In states like UP, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal it is not taking any strides towards its revival.
The Congress strategy rides on the hope that it will return to power in Punjab and also re-start its journey to reclaim past glory and take the fight into the 'enemy' camp.
The 'enemy camp' is the saffron party and its two leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. But will it succeed in achieving this milestone challenging India's Prime Minister as undisputed mass leader? With some of these innocuous but vital questions, the party has also played the 'Dalit card' and banked on Charanjjit Singh Channi.
However, there are skirmishes as party's 'Hindu MP', courtesy Ambika Soni, has questioned the very motive arguing whether the 'Dalit face' should be only a stopgap arrangement.
This is not unusual when Jakhar has presumably missed the top post on the issue of Sikh-Hindu identity. For some time around 2018 Punjab was alone among Indian states where Congress had a Chief Minister. But now the 79-year-old veteran has been replaced.
By that logic, Lal Thanhawla must quit as he is four-years older than Amarinder Singh. In 2023, when Mizoram Congress gets ready to take on MNF regime, Lal Thanhawla would be 85.
Had the year 2021 been circa 2018, they could have survived. That year, Rahul decided to bank on Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath and pushed the young generation into playing second fiddle. The Rajasthan fort still remains 'guarded' but the central Indian state has been lost.
The Congress also lost Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is now comfortable 'flying' as India's Civil Aviation Minister.
The big picture scenario from Punjab points to something significant. In making a Dalit the Chief Minister of India's agri-rich food bowl province, the Congress leadership has given a bigger message to the vast Dalit community across the nation.
An estimated 17 per cent of Indians are Dalits and these include Sikhs. There is sizeable Christian population, who also want social and community recognition as 'Dalit Christians'.
There is something known as the 'soul of the Congress party'. That 'soul' is yearning for the uplift of Dalits and other deprived sections.
The Congress is working to a plan towards that and has been making nationwide attempts to win back Dalits which for multiple reasons deserted the party over the last two-or-three decades.
Earlier this year, Rahul Gandhi personally took the initiative to make a Dalit -- Mallikarjun Kharge -- the new Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Importantly, Kharge was given the post replacing former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who again has been a longtime family loyalist.
In 1998 when Sonia Gandhi took over as party president staging a coup against 'harmless' Sitaram Kesri, Azad was her points person.
Dalits make up at least 20 per cent of the population in Uttar Pradesh. The challenge before the Congress is to stay relevant to fight Modi and the BJP in 2024.
Besides fighting the BJP, the Congress has to get back its 'national rhythm and appetite' to fight Modi in 2024. Otherwise, regional leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, who won majorly against BJP in Bengal in May 2021, will come forward to take on Modi pushing Congress down the ladder.
Once state elections are over in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, there could be more regional contestants.
The Congress faces a major challenge in the form of factionalism. However, 'factionalism' is in the 'inherent' culture of the party. In northeastern states too such as Nagaland and Meghalaya, factionalism is prevalent in a big way. It was sheer factionalism that led to Congress debacle in Assam polls early this year.
In poll-bound Manipur, the Congress-like menace of factionalism is reflected even in the BJP.
However, there are chances of Congress success there. The buzz in Imphal is that many BJP and NDA MLAs are in touch with the Congress.
The formal anointment of Vincent Pala as new state unit chief in Meghalaya has been opposed by a powerful faction led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. To counter these trends and forge ahead on its journey of revival, the Congress will have to bank on its old virtues.
No comments:
Post a Comment