Congress’ proposed peace formula beset with trouble

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 17

“The CM is deeply hurt,” said a senior Congress leader as Friday’s developments led towards one foregone conclusion — MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu’s appointment as the next president of Punjab Congress against the wishes of Capt Amarinder Singh and many senior party leaders.

The first hints of unease came soon after AICC general secretary Harish Rawat landed in New Delhi after meeting the CM in Chandigarh. “The CM has said he won’t meet Sidhu until Sidhu publicly apologised for his 150-odd derogatory tweets,” AICC sources said, signalling a rocky start to the proposed AICC resolution to Punjab affairs.

The so-called peace formulation appeared beset with problems on Friday even before it was announced. The CM looked in no mood to call a truce with Sidhu even though he reiterated that Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s decision would be acceptable to all. The CM did not, however, give up his misgivings about Sidhu as state chief and repeated them to Rawat in his meeting, putting the ball in Sonia Gandhi’s court.

CM-Bajwa will make good team ahead: Tewari

• Signs of dissent over probable elevation of Sidhu emerged on Saturday evening after former rivals Partap Bajwa and Capt Amarinder Singh came together to send a signal of unity against the Amritsar East MLA as state president
• Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari, considered close to the CM, tweeted Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Bajwa would make a good team ‘for the future’. The cryptic tweet had everyone thinking as to what Tewari’s ‘the future’ remark meant

By the evening, Rajya Sabha MP and former state chief Partap Bajwa, whom Sidhu met yesterday, was seen sitting with the CM and his close friends — Punjab Speaker Rana KP Singh, minister Rana Gurmit Sodhi and CM’s adviser BIS Chahal.

Already, the CM has been meeting leaders over the past days in a show of strength while publicly maintaining he will defer to any decision Sonia took.

SS Dullo, former Punjab Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP, when contacted today about his meeting with Sidhu, said: “I welcomed Sidhu because he said he wanted to see me. But frankly, the fact is he is yet to be appointed. We have seen in this party many appointments being reversed after being finalised. In politics, leaders ought to be patient.”

Many other MPs part of the pro-CM group resistant to Sidhu as state chief remain in a wait-and-watch mode.

With Sidhu having taken a very public stand against the CM in the recent past, senior leaders said he would need to make some conciliatory gestures to move forward now.

“One would normally imagine that winning the 2022 election would bring leaders and MLAs together. But a lot would depend on how Sidhu conducts himself should he be elevated. He would need to show magnanimity and humility, change his working style and appear more accommodative and accessible to people. Any meaningful cohesion of hearts and purposes will only happen if genuine attempts are made. Otherwise, there is a lot of bad blood between the CM and Sidhu and it remains to be seen what happens next,” said a senior state leader.

Although some Punjab Congress stalwarts believe that once Sidhu is appointed as state chief, everyone will fall in line, many strike notes of caution. “Having the two top people pulling in different directions would not be a happy sight in an election year. Sonia Gandhi will have to ensure meaningful truce. That won’t come with a formulation alone,” said an MLA.

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