Congress, it seems, is setting its own house in disorder. For, the Congress party in Punjab, animosity begins at home as the leaders from the camp of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh continue to systematically attack State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa. Up in arms, the Amarinder camp is working out a strategy to build an opinion against Bajwa to pave way for his ouster from the party’s top-post.
The crusade, that was initiated soon after the party faced worst ever poll debacle as in 2014 lok Sabha elections, to oust Bajwa for his failure to lead the party to victory despite strong anti-incumbency wave, besides securing a win for himself, is again gaining momentum these days after being silenced after the party high command’s intervention.
The ‘oust Bajwa’ campaign was again initiated after another loss in Talwandi Sabo by poll, fought under his leadership and personal supervision. On the other hand, the Congress, particularly the erstwhile Patiala royal family, succeeded in retaining the Patiala urban assembly segment, where Capt Amarinder supervised the electioneering and Bajwa did not campaigned for Preneet despite being party chief.
The win in Patiala led to Capt Amarinder’s emergence as a strong leader of the party in Punjab. Also, the Congress Deputy leader in lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder strengthened his position in the party by winning parliamentary polls against BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley and making his wife Preneet Kaur won Patiala by poll. Contrarily, Bajwa’s failure to retain his Gurdaspur lok Sabha seat and party’s loss at Talwandi Sabo has built anti-wave against him.
Bajwa’s detractors, headed by Amritsar MP and his bête noire Capt Amarinder, are now leaving no stone unturned to generate anti-outlook against him. It has been learnt that they are strategically pressurising the party high command to remove Bajwa from the party president’s post. Only recently, Capt Amarinder had maintained that he had expressed his views against Bajwa to the party’s national president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
More to the point, Capt Amarinder displayed his strength and hold within the party during Preneet’s oath-taking ceremony and a lunch hosted in her honour with majority of 43 legislators rallying behind him, besides the former MlAs, and other senior party leaders. What is more, Bajwa was not invited in both the events. Capt Amarinder even went a step ahead by clarifying the reason for the same. “He is not an MlA, not even my close friend, or not my supporter…why should he be invited for Preneet’s oath ceremony,” Capt Amarinder had said.
As a part of the same strategy, Capt Amarinder faction has also planned to tap the brewing resentment against Bajwa down to the grass root level. Besides the legislators, the Amarinder camp is also involving the office bearers and other senior leaders of the party’s state or district units to construct an opinion in favour of the ‘oust Bajwa’ campaign.
At the time of Capt Amarinder’s appointment as deputy leader, it was believed that the same would result in his departure from the State politics. Observers had also maintained that an immediate fallout of his appointment caused muting of voices of dissidence in the State. In sharp contrast to the same, Capt Amarinder had maintained his footing in the state politics, by raising, time and again, issued related to the state, and even responding to the day-to-day happenings in the State.