A picture tells many stories. Captain Amarinder Singh‘s biggest rival Navjot Singh Sidhu met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at her residence, spent over two hours, happily posed for a photograph with her, and then tweeted it. This was clearly done with the knowledge and consent of Priyanka. It sends a very strong message to many within Punjab Congress, and most importantly to chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, that Sidhu does enjoy the patronage of the party’s top leadership. The meeting between Priyanka and Sidhu took place against the backdrop of disapproval expressed by the Congress top brass over a series of interviews given by the former cricketer attacking the CM. However, when the Captain was in the capital recently, he was given the homework to complete all his promises and he went back after spending two days in Delhi without meeting the Gandhis. While Sidhu drove down from Patiala and got an audience with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Among the many challenges the Gandhi family faces at this time, one is to convince Sidhu that he needs to exercise restraint because any word against the Captain is actually going to help the Akalis and the Aam Aadmi Party. The second is what role to give Sidhu. It is very clear that he is not going to be satisfied with being just another minister or even a deputy chief minister. He obviously wants to be the face of the party as it goes to polls in February next year. The recommendation of a three-member panel of the party is that there should be no announcement of a CM face. This means the Captain will also be kept on tenterhooks.
The dissension in Punjab Congress began after a faction contended that the ruling party cannot win next year’s assembly polls under Amarinder Singh’s leadership. The chief minister’s detractors are unhappy over his alleged failure to take action against those responsible for the Kotkapura police firing on a crowd who had been protesting incidents of ‘sacrilege’ in 2015, under-representation of Dalits in the government, as well as the perceived inaccessibility of the CM.
It was in 2018 that Sidhu joined the Congress, leaving the BJP. The Gandhi siblings were impressed with him. They are very fond of cricket and were drawn to Sidhu because of his gift of the gab and he was also a popular talk show host. Priyanka in particular felt that having him in Congress could help match the BJP in oratory. That’s how Sidhu joined the party. But from the start, it was a bitter relationship between him and Amarinder Singh. Both of them have huge ambitions and self-pride. The barbs they kept firing at each other could not be stopped, and finally, Sidhu told the Gandhis that he can’t work with the Captain and he resigned as minister. But Sidhu was shielded despite his public attacks on Amarinder Singh due to his proximity to the Gandhis, especially Priyanka. For long, his Twitter display photo was a picture with her that he flaunted to make the point that no harm could come to him as long as she was by his side. So much so that a couple of months back Rahul Gandhi had a closed-door meeting with the Captain and Sidhu asking them to work together. There was a photo op of Sidhu and the Captain, but this picture soon faded as the acrimony between the two was alive. The Captain’s style of working is also something that is very difficult for the Gandhis to accept. He is a man with his own mind and a coterie. These and other gripes against him started building up against him. Sidhu too had often criticised the quality of leadership and slowly the Gandhis began to feel that Ama could not be given a free hand. When disgruntled MLAs started approaching them, it was decided to set up a three-member panel, and that’s where the cornering of the Captain began.
Priyanka’s meeting with Sidhu would have larger ramifications for the Congress. Because this comes at a time when Sachin Pilot has also been doing the rounds of the capital, waiting for the promise of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to be fulfilled that he would become the chief minister of Rajasthan. Until now, the top Congress leadership has been averse to unsettling CM Ashok Gehlot, knowing his clout in the state. But the fact that the Gandhis are now mulling Sidhu possibly replacing the Captain means that there could be a change of guard in Rajasthan as well. The message is loud and clear. The siblings want to take on the satraps and Amarinder could be just the beginning. If they sideline the Captain further and Sidhu rises in stature, then it’d be clear that finally the brother and sister have pushed for generational change. But this could divide the party even further between seniors and juniors. In Punjab, the Sidhu-Priyanka picture could embolden the Akalis and AAP even more— at the cost of the Captain.
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