After exit of senior leaders, election a litmus test for Punjab Congress

Tribune News Service

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, May 6

Trying hard to put up a united face, the state Congress will face a decisive political bout in the June 1 polling for the General Election.

After facing a humiliating defeat in the 2022 Assembly elections, it will be the first election that will not only set the ground for the revival of the party in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections, but also gauge the mood of the people vis-à-vis the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress Government had won eight seats. Now being in the opposition and infighting among its top leaders for supremacy, the poll outcome will depend on the united fight put up by its leaders.

“The proverb ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ fits the bill for the Congress. While putting a united front in 2019 Lok Saha polls, the party got eight seats when Narendra Modi-led BJP swept the nation. In the 2022 Assembly poll, infighting brought the party down. The 2024 Lok Sabha poll will decide where we stand today,” quipped a senior party leader.

Opposing pact with the AAP under the INDIA bloc, the state unit has challenged the ruling dispensation on account of anti-incumbency. But its own house is not in order as witnessed in the last few days over parachute candidates being given the party tickets. A former PCC chief Shamsher Dullo in a letter to Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi has pointed out that seven turncoats and only five traditional Congressmen have been given tickets out of the total 12 tickets announced so far. “This formula of relying on turncoats could result in the party performing badly, as it did in the 2022 Assembly poll,” he said.

The party leaders have been busy controlling the dissent. The recent resignation of former Dhuri MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy over Sangrur ticket being given to Sukhpal Khaira and Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Chaudhary being suspended from party over his utterances against former CM Charanjit Channi, who is contesting from Jalandhar, are examples of ‘all is not well’ in the party.

The party also faced defections by its two senior leaders — sitting MP Ravneet Bittu, who joined the BJP and MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who joined the AAP. Besides Karamjit Kaur, widow of former MP Santokh Chaudhary has also joined the BJP.

Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Anandpur Sahib, Patiala and Bathinda parliamentary seats are examples of leaders from outside or turncoats being given the tickets. The Ludhiana parliamentary seat, from where PCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has been given the ticket, is an example of differences among other ticket aspirants that led to the party going for Warring. Though the party narrative is that it has fielded Warring to teach a lesson to party deserter Bittu.

The Lok Sabha results will seal the fate of many senior leaders like Warring, Sukhjinder Randhawa, a former Deputy CM, and Charanjit Channi, a former CM. “There are many contenders for becoming the CM face in the 2027 Assembly poll. After the vacuum created with the exit of Capt Amarinder Singh in 2021, the power struggle of supremacy has always been there,” party leaders said.

Candidates

Patiala: Dharamvira Gandhi

Sangrur: Sukhpal Khaira

Faridkot: Amarjit Kaur Sahoke

Bathinda: Jeet Mohinder Sidhu

Khadoor Sahib: Kulbir Singh Zira

Amritsar: Gurjeet Singh Aujla

Gurdaspur: Sukhjinder Randhawa

Jalandhar: Charanjit Channi

Ludhiana: Amrinder Warring

Fatehgarh Sahib: Dr Amar Singh

Hoshiarpur: Yamini Gomar

Anandpur Sahib: Vijay Inder Singla

(Ferozepur candidate yet to be announced)

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