It’s Congress versus Congress once again for the Chief Minister’s post. But this time, the verdict may be more decisive, with the party’s central leadership under pressure to name its Chief Ministerial candidate before the State goes to poll in a month’s time.
Even as the Delhi Durbar is conveniently postponing the issue by strategically saying that Congress would contest February 29 polls under “collective leadership”, two more Cabinet Ministers on Thursday too backed the demand of announcing a Chief Ministerial candidate to avoid any “confusion”.
The tussle between Channi and Sidhu for the coveted post has never been a matter of surmises, with both the leaders making no attempts to hide their political ambitions.
While Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu has all along been questioning the party high command’s decision of not announcing the CM face before the polls, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi too had asserted that announcement would help in reaping benefits, with Congress stalwart Sunil Jakhar being a silent spectator.In addition, senior leaders and Cabinet Ministers — Brahm Mohindra and Rana Gurjit Singh — have already backed Channi as CM, while urging the high command to announce his name ahead of polls.
It seems that the high command’s wait and watch policy is not going down well with the State leadership, particularly with the announcement of the CM candidate by the party’s powerful opponent — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Sources within the Congress party informed The Pioneer that even though the party high command is making a pitch for “collective leadership”, it is also conducting a survey to review its decision over the CM candidate announcement. And if sources are to be believed, the Congress can announce the CM face just before the elections. Strong indications are that the incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi may be picked as the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate, however, the decision has its own shortcomings — be it Sidhu or the caste equations.
The party’s internal survey will be conducted primarily on two points — who is popular leader among Channi and Sidhu, besides Sunil Jakhar; and secondly if there is any impact on AAP’s popularity after declaration of Bhagwant Mann’s name as CM face.
If that was not enough, the Congress’ senior leader Rahul Gandhi close aide, Nikhil Alva, have also started Twitter poll on the party’s CM face for Punjab, days after AAP announced its CM pick after a first of its kind tele-voting campaign. As the Congress high command has all along been insisting on contesting ensuing polls under “collective leadership” in Punjab, a serious churning is taking place within over the announcement of the Chief Ministerial face, especially after Bhagwant Mann’s announcement. Congress party is now facing a pressure from within considering Sidhu’s continuous demand for the same, and now with Cabinet Ministers also coming out in open demanding to make Channi as party’s CM face.
CHANGE OF STRATEGY
It has been learnt that the Congress party has changed its strategy after AAP announced Mann’s name. The party is now conducting a survey to gauge the voters’ mood regarding the CM face.
The focus of the survey is mainly on two points—first, who is more popular as CM face among Channi, Sidhu, and Jakhar; and secondly, what is difference in AAP’s popularity graph after declaration of Mann’s name as chief ministerial candidate. In fact, in Congress party’s internal survey, its direct competition would be with AAP, while Shiromani Akali Dal is making the contest triangular on many seats. Senior congress leader maintained that as of now, the Congress and AAP are almost equal. “But if AAP is seen moving ahead of the Congress after Bhagwant Mann’s announcement, Congress can also announce its CM face,” he said adding that in the past few years, it has been seen that the election campaign is better with the announcement of the CM face.
CM CHANNI: A FRONT RUNNER?
It is believed that Channi is a frontrunner in the race for the chief ministerial candidate. The state’s first Dalit Chief Minister, Channi took several pro-people decisions giving relief to the common man. His popularity saw an upward trend especially the way he handled the BJP’s attacks during the Prime Minister's security lapse episode.
Moreover, being an old Congressman, Channi has a better grip on the organization than Sidhu. Another Congress leader maintained that because of Channi, Congress’ position has strengthened among about 32 percent of the Dalit voters. Here, it is to be seen if the Jat-dominated state would like to see a Dalit face as the Chief Minister. Moreover, the recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate at Channi’s relative’s premises in connection with the crackdown on sand mafia may also impact his somewhat clean image.
At the same time, Channi’s supporters contended that with both Bhagwant Mann and SAD president and prospective CM candidate Sukhbir Singh Badal being Jat Sikhs, the votes may get divided between the two, while the Dalit community may vote for Channi. And if coupled with the support of Hindu voters, Congress can get the majority.
SIDHU: A POPULAR choice?
On the other hand, Sidhu is a celebrity and famous among all sections of society. Sidhu, who comes from the Jat Sikh community, has all along been staking claim at the top job, while projecting himself as the CM candidate.
However, after Capt Amarinder Singh’s ouster from the Congress, Sidhu’s position within the party has weakened — thanks to his continuous diatribe against his own party’s government. In fact, Sidhu could not do much in the ticket distribution process. Thus as of now, the Congress does not want to take any risk by announcing any one name.
TWITTER POLL BY RAhul GAndhi’S AIDE
Days after AAP’s tele-vote, a Twitter poll on who should be the Congress's Chief Ministerial candidate in Punjab was started by Rahul Gandhi's close aide Nikhil Alva. It asks who should be Chief Minister face of the Congress in Punjab and gives four options — incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi, state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, senior leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar, and the fourth option is that “no choice should be announced”.
4 MINISTERS BACK CHANNI AS CM
Several Congress leaders have come out in open to demand that the high command should announce a name to ensure that its campaign is not derailed by any “confusion”.
Day after senior-most cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra backed Channi as CM as he had “already proved himself beyond everybody's expectations”, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa too backed the demand.
Already, another minister Rana Gurjit Singh had stated that the suspense over Channi's position after the polls will “not only be politically unwise but suicidal”. Randhawa maintained that presently, Channi is the CM. “And the Congress high command never tolerates those who insist on becoming the Chief Minister,” said Randhawa, in an indirect reference to Sidhu. At the same time, Tript Bajwa praised Channi's work, saying that Channi has done a good job in a short time.
CONG’S TWITTER HANDLE INDICATED AT CM FACE
Congress party’s official handle had shared a video clip from an interview of actor Sonu Sood in which he was seen saying that the “real CM” should be one who is forced to sit in the chair and does not have to advertise his capability. Right after actor's remarks, a montage of Channi followed, while Sidhu was missing from 36 seconds video clip.
