Leaving nothing to chance and state, the Delhi Durbar is monitoring all decisions taken by the Congress-led Punjab Government in an apparent attempt to snuff the sparks of discontentment before they turn into flames.
Hours after he returned from the national capital, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has been once again called to Delhi on Friday — twice in the past 24 hours and for the third time in the past four days after taking oath on September 20 (Monday).
It is believed that the high command has summoned Channi once again for the last-minute discussions before releasing the final list of Ministers.
Channi had returned from New Delhi in the wee hours on Friday after holding “late-night” meetings with Gandhi siblings — Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with other senior leaders to finalise the Cabinet.
After his return, the announcement of the new Cabinet was expected. Reports were also that the officials have been asked to seek time from the state Governor, as per constitutional requirement, to administer the oath to the new Ministers. However, the same has been put on hold after Channi was again called by the party high command, along with the state party president and his two deputies — Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni, to reach Delhi for another round of meetings.
Sources informed The Pioneer that the party high command is treading cautiously to select the names for the Cabinet to avoid any further revolt or dissatisfaction among the party leaders, while maintaining balance among all sections, categories, regions, and castes.
While deciding on the Cabinet expansion, the Congress party is working on three parameters — strengthening its social base, taking on board MLAs from the former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s camp, and countering the anti-incumbency factor.
“So many names are in consideration and thus it is hard to tell who would be included and who will be left out. Actually, the party is working on three factors. It is selecting candidates in a way that the party’s social base is strengthened in Punjab to benefit it in the ensuing polls. Secondly, efforts are being made to reach out to the MLAs close to Capt Amarinder Singh so that there would be no protests in Punjab in future, especially when the former chief minister has already revolted openly against the party,” said a senior party leader, privy to the developments.
The leader maintained that it could be possible that some MLAs, who backed Capt Amarinder in his battle for supremacy with Sidhu, as the party high command has talked to and consulted the leaders hailing from the anti-Sidhu camp.
In addition, the leader said, the main focus of the party high command is to decide on names to counter the string anti-incumbency factor working against it. “Anti-incumbency factor is quite strong against the Congress...so some new faces would be inducted in the Cabinet to check the same,” added the leader.
It has been learnt that to strike balance among all categories, the party may have about four Ministers from SC/ST, BC or OBC categories, five Hindu faces, while also maintaining an equilibrium between all three regions — Majha, Malwa, and Doaba.
Channi, after taking oath as the Chief Minister on September 20 (Monday), first visited Delhi on Tuesday along with his two deputies and Sidhu. While the Gandhis were vacationing at Shimla, they met senior leaders All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, Punjab party affairs in-charge Harish Rawat and two central observers — Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary with the names of probables for induction into the Ministry.
The Chief Minister was again called by Rahul Gandhi to Delhi on Thursday, where he held back to back meeting first with Venugopal and Rawat among others, followed by another with Rahul Gandhi till 2 am.
It is believed that Channi has again been called considering fresh feedback, taken at the eleventh hour, from some of the senior leaders, including the state’s former party chief Sunil Jakhar.
As per information available, Cabinet may see the induction of several new faces, including Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Randeep Singh Nabha, Pargat Singh, and Surjit Dhiman. It has also been learnt that seven Ministers from the Capt Amarinder Cabinet — Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Vijay Inder Singla, Razia Sultana, among others.
Meanwhile, the expected appointments on two significant posts—the state DGP and AG—has also been put on hold with the state government flip-flopping on the names. A day after it has approved the name of senior advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia as the Advocate-General, Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have vetoed.
Later, the name of Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu was given the nod, but the formal order is awaited.
Also, the party is also yet to reach a consensus on deciding the replacement of Capt Amarinder’s favourite officer Dinkar Gupta, as the next DGP. As of now, Siddharth Chattopadhyay has emerged as the frontrunner, but the final decision is awaited.