Congress party’s trusted general Capt Amarinder Singh, who captured the prestigious Amritsar seat while the party was literally forced to bite the dust in the rest of the country, was on Thursday rewarded the post of party’s deputy leader in the lok Sabha.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi appointed Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder for the coveted post — thirty years after he resigned from the membership of the Parliament — as a sign of protest against Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Interestingly, his appointment came close on the heels of 30th anniversary of the Operation Bluestar, army attack on Amritsar’s Golden Temple.
The development also indicated that he will now be playing an active role not just in the state, but also in the national level politics, leading the party from the front in the Parliament along with Congress’ leader of the House Mallikarjun Kharge, the former railways minister.
The former Chief Minister had wrested Amritsar parliamentary seat by drubbing the BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in his first ever lok Sabha election by more than one lakh votes despite the fact that the ruling SAD-BJP alliance infused their full energy on this constituency.
Many are viewing his elevation as a reward for defeating BJP’s tall leader, when the Congress’ senior leaders tasted defeat in recently-concluded parliamentary elections.
Even as the Congress’ tally in Punjab tumbled down from eight during 2009 polls to just three this general election, Jaitley’s defeat acted as a little comfort for the party. At the same time, Amritsar’s win gave a fillip to Capt Amarinder’s status within the party, fortifying his support base, that has witnessed a downfall ever since he was replaced by former Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa.
Capt Amarinder’s elevation has come at a time when the clamour over Bajwa’s resignation, on “moral grounds” for party’s defeat, can be heard loud and clear.
With the former Chief Minister registering a “historic” win against Arun Jaitley (now the Union Minister as he is the Rajya Sabha member), Capt Amarinder is once again returned in the game with his supporters wanting him back as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief.
Since Congress’ lok Sabha election debacle, his supporters have been demanding Bajwa’s ouster for his failure to lead the party to victory despite strong anti-incumbency wave against the ruling combine in Punjab, besides his failure to secure a win for himself against yesteryears Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna.
Amarinder’s loyalist believed that after winds of opposition blowing against the Patiala Royal considering series of defeats under his leadership, it has started blowing in his favour.
The 74-year-old Congress stalwart veteran was pushed out of the saddle after Bajwa’s appointment as PPCC chief following party’s resounding back-to-back defeats in assembly polls and by-polls.
Considering his stature and standing in the party, he made a comeback, holding the reins again, as the party reposed trust in his abilities and appointed him as “Permanent Invitee” to the all powerful Congress Working Committee (CWC) — party’s decision making body in June last.
His inclusion in the CWC gave rest to all speculations regarding end of the political road for the Patiala Royal; and with his appointment as party’s deputy leader of the House, a whiff of freshness and enthusiasm has been brought in Capt Amarinder’s camp.
The constant tug of war for power between Capt Amarinder and Bajwa is not unknown. At the time when Capt Amarinder Singh was the state party chief, Bajwa continuously tried to pull him down by one way or another. Similarly, now when Bajwa is at the helm of party affairs, Capt Amarinder is leaving no stone unturned to prove that choosing Bajwa for replacing him was a wrong decision.