Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Behind the claims of his “principle-based politics” and “non-compromising attitude over corruption,” his political alienation within the party rank and file ever since Captain Amarinder Singh was made to resign as the chief minister and a Dalit Sikh Charanjit Singh Channi was anointed in his place, is believed to be the main reason behind Navjot Singh Sidhu quitting as the Punjab state Congress chief plunging the party into a new turmoil.
Caught unaware about the sudden development just on the eve of state Assembly elections due early next year, the Congress high command has reported to have entrusted the new chief minister Channi and one of his close aide Pargat Singh, who also resigned from the Channi cabinet following Sidhu on Tuesday, with the task of sorting out the differences with the cricketer-turned-politician and bring him back to the party post.
The high command is learnt to have given the arbitrators the time till Thursday to work out a compromise formula with Sidhu after which it was expected to go ahead with a replacement as the state Congress president and go ahead with the changes affected in the government and the organizational wing of the party in Punjab.
Even as Sidhu on Wednesday reiterated his high moral ground and insisted on “not compromising with his principles till the last breath,” the possibility of his crossing over to the Aam Aadmi Party is not ruled out. His hobnobbing with some AAP leaders in Punjab and Delhi was known even when he was campaigning for the ouster of Captain Amarinder Singh but the issue was dumped after he was appointed the state Congress president a couple of months ago. Significantly, the AAP on Wednesday decided to postpone by a day its chief ministerial candidate for Punjab if the party was voted to power. The AAP said on Wednesday that a “big surprise” awaited the people of Punjab “and they will be proud” when it announces its chief ministerial candidate.
Even as Channi on Wednesday that he was not standing on any “ego issue” and was confident of sorting out the differences with Sidhu whom he treated as the “head of the family,” Sidhu on his part maintained that the possibility of his re-assuming the post of the PPCC president was almost nil.
Channi told media persons that there was no “ego tussle” and he was willing to invite Sidhu to discuss his issues with the party. “Sidhu does not want to destroy the government,” Channi said, adding that he had already spoken to him on the phone since his resignation.
Channi said, “The party president is the head of the family. The head should discuss the matters within the family. I have spoken to Sidhu Sahib today and invited him for dialogue. I have told him that the party’s ideology is supreme and a government follows that ideology. I have told him that if he has any issues, we can talk those out.”
On the controversy about the new AG APS Deol being former DGP Sumedh Saini’s lawyer, which is believed to have hurt Sidhu, Channi said the government would set up a special team to fight all important cases, “A team of a special prosecutor and 10 lawyers is being set up. This team will work under the special prosecutor. The team will handle all important cases of the state government.”
Sidhu, in a video released on Twitter, said that he witnessed issues and agendas being “compromised” in the state. Clarifying that he had no “personal agenda”, Sidhu said, “17 years of my political career has been for a purpose, to make difference, to take a stand and to make people’s lives better.”
“I can’t compromise with my ethics, moral authority,” he added. “I can’t disguise high command nor can I let them be disguised.”
In a video posted on Twitter, Sidhu raised the issues of Bargari sacrilege and said those people who had given clean chits to Badals and those who had given blanked bails to former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini are appointed in the system as Advocate General. “Where are those issues now? I will keep raising them,” he attacked his own government once again. “I will not compromise. I am not for posts. I can sacrifice anyone,” he is heard saying.
The party sources, however, said there were a string of factors behind the surprise resignation, particularly that he was not allowed to have his way in appointments in some senior administrative posts, selection of ministers and allocation of portfolios.
Sidhu, who believed that as the party president he would be the super chief minister since he was denied the CM’s post by the high command, found himself to be alienated in the party once Amarinder Singh resigned. All those who joined him in his campaign for the ouster of Singh, changed sides once the chief ministerial face changed. Sidhu found that out of Singh’s ouster he was the least gainer politically while those in his rival camp benefitted more from the change of leadership.
The sources said the party high command after realizing that it had got a “positive response” from the ground after choosing Channi as Chief Minister, it wanted to ensure that Sidhu was not allowed to remote-control the government. The high command is said to have stood by Channi even as Sidhu tried to have his way in appointments to senior administrative posts, selection of ministers and allocation of portfolios. Though Sidhu had his say in some of the crucial decisions post Amarinder Singh’s resignation, he was “angry and upset” that his suggestions were ignored in the appointment of some top officials.
The party sources said even as Sidhu surprised everybody with his sudden resignation, the man himself had been at the receiving end of several surprises since Singh’s resignation. Sidhu had spearheaded the campaign to topple Amarinder Singh but post-resignation, the reality turned out to be completely different as Sidhu found his rivals in Amritsar City turning out to be more powerful with Channi as CM than they were during Amarinder’s government.
Sidhu was last seen in public during Channi’s first visit to Amritsar as CM on Wednesday. Some critics noted Sidhu’s body gestures, like keeping his hand on Channi’s shoulder, leading to accusations of Sidhu playing the super CM. Contrary to the allegations of Sidhu becoming super CM, it was Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal who hosted Channi multiple times at his home in Chandigarh during the last week. Sidhu was nowhere in the scene.
Amritsar Central MLA Om Parkash Soni, who had almost defeated Sidhu in the 2009 parliamentary elections and also remained in a legal tussle with Sidhu, became the Deputy Chief Minister in new government. Soni was always seen in Amarinder Singh’s camp till the latter’s resignation. Soni was a cabinet minister in Amarinder Singh government but he was promoted to Deputy CM after Channi took over.
Amritsar West MLA Raj Kumar Verka, who is also a Amarinder Singh confidant, occupied a cabinet position through Dalit quota in the new government under the Dalit Sikh CM. Many within the Congress were surprised at this move, as Verka is known to have publicly opposed Sidhu. Some even opined that there was no need to make Verka a minister, as a Dalit was already heading the government.
Sidhu is an MLA from Amritsar East and the only way in which he benefited from Channi’s accession was the appointment of Damandeeep Singh Uppal as the chairman of Amritsar Improvement Trust. Pargat Singh another close aide of Sidhu’s, had also been appointed cabinet minister. However, the elevation of Pargat Singh, a former hockey player, was also obvious for many other reasons apart from his proximity with Sidhu.
Many Congress MLAs had come to support Sidhu against Amarinder Singh. However, most only stood by him to seek Amarinder’s removal. They revised their politics as soon as Amarinder was gone and new equations emerged after the appointment of Channi. There was no obligation to stand by Sidhu on their part, even though his critics had become cabinet ministers.
Though Rana Gurjit Singh was removed on charges of corruption from Amarinder Singh’s government, Sidhu could not stop him from occupying a cabinet rank. That apart, Brahm Mohindra had also emerged as a senior minister in Channi’s cabinet. Mohindra, too, never had an affinity for Sidhu.
The cricketer-turned-politician also found himself on a weak wicket due to his differences with Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is now a deputy CM, and former PPCC president Sunil Jakhar in the race to become CM, post Amarinder Singh’s resignation. The trio reportedly blocked each other’s names for the CM post.
Randhawa and Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa had played major roles in mobilising MLAs against Amarinder Singh and prepared ground for Sidhu to become PPCC president to a large extent. However, differences over the CM post broke this alliance and Sidhu was left with fewer options. Randhawa, however, managed to secure the post of Deputy CM and Home Affairs in his portfolio.
While the Delhi chief minister and the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said Congress had reduced the Punjab government to a spectacle and demanded Channi to dismiss the “tainted” ministers, a senior Congress leader from Punjab, Sukhwinder Singh Kaka Kamboj called Sidhu’s resignation as “betrayal” of the party. “One man (Navjot Singh Sidhu) leaving/joining the party doesn’t affect our prospects to win the election, Congress will form the govt again…What he did is no less than betrayal,” he said.