NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership’s move to replace Amarinder Singh with Charanjit Singh Channi in September last year as the Punjab CM, a few months before the state poll, had cost the party dear. A similar bid to change the Chief Minister of Rajasthan poses a threat, not just to its Government in the desert state but also to the powers of the Gandhi family-centric high command itself.
In a series of twists and turns, the Congress high command called a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on September 25, a day before the start of nominations for party president’s post, in which Ashok Gehlot had emerged as the frontrunner with undeclared support of the Gandhi Parivar.
The AICC representatives sent to ensure a smooth transition of power were jolted out of their wits when nearly 90 Gehlot loyalists boycotted the meeting called for the purpose. Seeing it as a bid to foist former Deputy CM and Gehot’s bête noire Sachin Pilot as his successor, they even threatened to resign en masse.
Though Gehlot denied any hand in it, the high command emissaries – Mallukarjun Khadge and Ajay Maken– were upset by the rebellion and reported the matter to the leadership. For the time being it has been decided to maintain the status quo till the nomination process for the party’s presidential election is underway.
Indications are that the aftershocks of the political earthquake that has hit the Congress in Rajasthan will continue to be felt a long time even if the party manages to find a facesaving formula. Though the reasons for change of guard in Rajasthan and Punjab may be entirely different, the way in which political developments are unfolding may end up severely damaging the Congress’ chances in the state Assembly elections due next year and the national election in 2024.
The Congress had witnessed hectic political activity even before the process to elect a new President started. Gehlot emerged as the favourite to succeed Sonia Gandhi. But an unexpected twist came when former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi insisted that the principle of ‘one manone post’, propounded and agreed to at the Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’, must be adhered to.
Following this, Gehlot had almost accepted the inevitable and was all set to file his nomination papers on September 26 when the representatives of the high command rushed to Jaipur to pave the way for Sachin Pilot. The move boomeranged and has put the high command in a Catch-22 situation. Whatever the outcome, it is bound to widen the already-existing fault lines in the Congress. The party may lose whatever chances it has to remain in power in the state.
All these developments mirror last year’s goings-on in Punjab. Capt Amrinder Singh, who was the Chief Minister of the state, had led the Congress to a decisive victory in 2017 and was going strong in his second term when the central leadership put a roadblock before him by backing cricketer-turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu. The Captain was unceremoniously replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi as the CM, months before the state Assembly elections. The result was a virtual wipe-out of the Congress from the state.
After Punjab, the Congress appears to be scoring another selfgoal in Rajasthan. Ironically, this is not the first time, and may be not the last. Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh and, to some extent, Chhattisgarh show that the party has mastered the art of turning a bad situation worse.
