The political careers of two former Congress stalwarts, both former Chief Ministers, Capt Amarinder Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad, seem to have ended similarly, with both facing political oblivion after leaving the Congress.
Azad virtually ruled over the Congress for four decades, working with three generations of party leaders, including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
In the process he served as party general secretary and Union minister for a long period and also as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, without ever having won an election in the state till then.
He managed to win only one election, that too while contesting a by-election after being appointed the Chief Minister.
Amarinder Singh, however, was a popular leader of his state. He also worked with three generations of the Gandhi family, again from Indira Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi.
Although he served as MP twice, he did not get a Cabinet berth and instead headed the Congress government as Chief Minister of Punjab twice, becoming in the bargain the longest serving Congress Chief Minister of the state.
Amarinder Singh resigned from the Congress party after his unceremonious exit as the Punjab Chief Minister in September 2021.
He later formed his own political party, the Punjab Lok Congress, which contested the 2022 Assembly elections in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
It drew a complete blank in the elections, with Amarinder Singh himself losing from his family borough of Patiala.
Later, however, he joined the BJP, with his son and daughter. His wife, who was the Patiala MP from Congress, resigned from the party much later to avoid re-election.
She contested on the BJP ticket in the 2024 general elections and lost narrowly.
Since then it has been a progressive downslide for the erstwhile royal family of Patiala.
Reportedly dealing with health issues, Amarinder Singh seems to have retired finally.
He also chose not to campaign for his wife in the Patiala general elections and instead preferred to maintain a low profile.
The buzz at that time was that he was miffed for not being suitably rewarded and rehabilitated in the BJP.
Earlier there were reports that he might be fielded as the BJP’s Vice Presidential candidate.
Later it was speculated that he was being considered for the post of Governor.
However, nothing came his way.
At this moment it’s said he has completely withdrawn from all sorts of political activity and is believed to be busy writing a couple of books on China and Punjab.
In hindsight, Amarinder Singh might be thinking that he would have been better off staying with the Congress.
It would have been mutually beneficial for both, him as well as the Congress.
It goes without saying that the Congress revived in Punjab under his leadership in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi after Indira Gandhi assassination.
The Congress formed the government twice in Punjab after the end of militancy by popular mandate under his stewardship.
Although the party won in 1992, those elections had witnessed negligible polling and could not be considered a popular mandate.
He left the Congress and eventually joined the BJP because he felt deeply hurt and insulted by what he felt was “betrayal” by the Gandhi family. He had expected a better deal from Sonia Gandhi as the two families had once shared a close and cordial relationship.
For Azad too, leaving the Congress to form his own Democratic Progressive Azad Party could be considered as a plan gone awry.
Initially he had attracted quite a few Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, who later deserted him to rejoin the party.
Had Azad been in the Congress right now, he would have been calling the shots. There was no leader as senior and influential as him in the party, which could have well considered him its Chief Ministerial candidate.
Although his party did announce some names to contest the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, most of them withdrew after Azad decided not to participate in the electioneering.
He returned to Delhi, reportedly for health reasons.
This could be because of a change of heart as he might not have felt comfortable at the thought of opposing the same party he had been associated with for over four decades.
Maybe he is keeping alive his hopes of returning to the party in anticipation of something better, for, isn’t it always advisable to “keep all the options open” in politics?
Earlier, Azad was rumoured to be cosying up to the BJP, which has been continuously making overtures to him.
It was the BJP government which awarded him with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award for public service.
Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s generous praise when he retired from the Rajya Sabha was exceptional.
To have someone like PM Modi praise him, a Congress leader, is proof of how well regarded Azad is by other politicians.
Both Amarinder and Azad’s cases prove one thing – that it is not so easy to adjust to and get rehabilitate in a new party after spending years with another outfit.
Both leaders, despite being towering personalities who have had distinguished political careers, now seem to be readying to ride off into the sunset…
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