Put Punjab on the agenda

Though the assembly elections are still one and a half years away, it is quite brave of Punjab Congress leaders to step out of their air-conditioned rooms to hold rallies in these hot, humid and rainy days. How torturous can be the struggle for power! The focus does not seem to be as much on highlighting failures of the Akali Dal-BJP government as on telling the Congress high command in Delhi of their crowd-pulling prowess. Whether it helps Delhi, where decision-making is on perpetual hold, in picking the right candidate for the post of Chief Minister is another matter. 

Even though Capt Amarinder Singh is an MP from Amritsar, he does not seem interested in doing his job as the Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha. Being a Chief Minister is any day preferable to just being an MP. At Tuesday’s rally in Jalandhar the Captain's supporters projected him as the next Chief Minister, challenging Rahul Gandhi's presumed preference for Pratap Singh Bajwa for the leadership role. The possibility of a fractious Congress helping the Akali Dal-BJP stay in power for yet another term cannot be ruled out altogether. There is infighting in the coalition too but that does not travel far beyond the government. There is a clear demarcation of their respective vote banks and one does not see any pressing reason for voters to desert them. Besides, Sukhbir Badal has earned a reputation for micro-managing polls with the use of money, muscle and media power.  

People may be unhappy with the SAD-BJP government due to the rampant spread of drugs, cancer, slow growth, agricultural and industrial stagnation, unemployment, shoddy educational and health services in rural Punjab and perpetual fund constraints in undertaking development/ infrastructure projects, but there is no reason why that should drive them to choose the Congress. How is the Congress different from the Akali Dal and the BJP? The party has not cared to come out with a well thought-out alternative agenda that can help Punjab regain its lost glory.