With no sign of end to the prevailing hostility between Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Congress high command is considering the options of giving a “bigger role” to the former cricketer.
Sidhu, the four-time MP and currently the Minister in Punjab, was the Congress’ star campaigner during the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, and a leader which the party could not afford to lose in any way, especially at this point of time.
But on the other side is the party’s veteran Capt Amarinder, who has defied the Modi tsunami across the country to secure eight, out of the total 13 seats, in Punjab. Capt Amarinder, who defeated the BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley in his first ever electoral hustings in 2014 general elections despite nationwide Modi wave, is currently ruling Punjab enjoying two-third majority in the State.
What exactly the Congress means by “bigger” is yet to be ascertained, but it has been learnt that the party is juggling between three options. First, to appoint him as the state Congress chief as the incumbent Sunil Jakhar has already submitted his resignation after he failed to secure his seat and lost to greenhorn Sunny Deol in Gurdaspur.
Secondly, there are talks of appointing Sidhu as the deputy to the Chief Minister which seems unlikely as the party high command could not afford to challenge Capt Amarinder’s authority by appointing a Deputy Chief Minister — a post which he had refused to retain in the first place.
After the Congress swept the Punjab assembly polls in 2017, speculations were rife that the party would appoint Sidhu as Deputy Chief Minister to Capt Amarinder. But, Capt Amarinder had reportedly refused to have a post of Deputy Chief Minister in his Cabinet.
Another alternative that the party high command is considering is to appoint Sidhu as one of the four vice-presidents in case the party decides to replace party president Rahul Gandhi, who is adamant to step down from the coveted post, with four in-charges by grouping the country into four segments.
In case it happens, the party is considering Sidhu’s name for the northern region. In the recently-concluded elections, Sidhu had addressed several rallies in the northern states, except his home state Punjab, and received tremendous response.
However, a senior Congress leader, while taking with The Pioneer “off the record”, maintained that giving Sidhu power which, in any way, would mean building a parallel power centre to Capt Amarinder may prove harmful for the party as a whole, where the Congress has managed to maintain its stronghold.
Even after 10 days of re-allocation of portfolios done by Capt Amarinder, Sidhu has not assumed the charge of the Power Department. Sidhu was divested of Local Government and Tourism Departments after the Chief Minister blamed him for party’s poor performance in the urban pockets as he failed to perform well as the Minister.
Sidhu, on the other hand, had argued that the Congress has won 64 percent in the purely urban assembly segments by winning 16 out of 25 seats, and in rural areas, Congress bagged 35 out of 63 seats, making it 55 percent.
Sidhu, making the re-allocation of portfolios as an issue of prestige, has taken the issue right up to the party high command, which has reportedly asked the former cricketer to continue working for the party. Despite that, Sidhu has not take over his Department. In fact, no effort was being made to appease Sidhu by the state leadership with no leader or even the Chief Minister contacting him.