Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Capt Amarinder Singh has created a political storm and given rise to speculation about his future course of action. The scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family has always been a journalists’ delight for his straight and candid talk, opinions, and observations. He takes a stand irrespective of his party affiliations.
When, while being the Congress Chief Minister, his party doubted and disputed the ‘Surgical Strikes’ in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, he supported and defended the action. It was rare in Indian politics that the Chief Minister of an opposing political party supported and defended the action of the Central government led by a different political party.
Capt Amarinder, who has come out of his long sabbatical caused due to his chronic back problem, in some of his interviews has been frank and candid in his comparisons of the working of his old party, the Congress, and the present one he is in, the BJP. He boldly spoke out that while in the Congress there was a culture of consultations, he did not find the same thing in the BJP. When asked whether he missed his old party, he replied in the negative, saying the work culture of two different parties is different.
As the Congress in Punjab is struggling to present a unified front, plus the “bombshell” thrown by Ms Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of former PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu, there is a buzz about Capt Amarinder’s latest comparative remarks about the Congress and the BJP. However, in all the interviews, he has made it categorically clear that he is and will continue to remain with the BJP as the party’s ideology suits him and the culture he was brought up in. Even during his private conversations, he has made it clear to everyone that at his age and experience he will not be making any new switchover and will continue to stick to the BJP.
But the issue Amarinder has touched upon has found resonance in multiple quarters within the BJP. While nobody likes to talk openly and candidly like him, several BJP leaders agree that the party should have a different approach towards Punjab. There is definitely a “deep disconnect” between Punjab and the BJP at the national level. While there can be hardly any leader having such deep and thorough first-hand experience of Punjab as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has spent many years as the BJP’s Punjab in-charge, there are not many leaders like him anymore who can claim such knowledge and understanding.
Prior to the current BJP set-up, which is dominated by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, during the Vajpayee-Advani era there were several leaders who had direct association with and deep understanding of Punjab. This lack of experience is reflected in some of the recent moves made by the Centre, which, despite being quite well intentioned, were misunderstood.
Proposals to scrap the Panjab University Senate, bringing the Chandigarh UT under Article 240 of the Indian Constitution, or celebrating 100 years of the ‘Gang Canal’ are highly sensitive and emotive issues for Punjab and Punjabis. These issues had the same potential to create mass unrest as the three central farm laws, which, despite being pro-farmer, were misinterpreted in such a way that the government had to withdraw them after a year-long protest by farmers. These three farm laws completely alienated the farming community in Punjab from the BJP.
The BJP has a great advantage over its political rivals in Punjab with Capt Amarinder Singh and another political veteran, Sunil Jakhar, in its fold. Jakhar is currently the state president of the party. While Capt Amarinder has been frank enough to say openly that the BJP does not consult him on anything, Jakhar has been more discreet. The BJP must listen to what Capt Amarinder has said and spoken. He has come to the party with six decades of political experience.
Jakhar comes with over four decades of experience. If the BJP is not able to benefit from their experience now, the party must rethink its approach and strategy.
The BJP is following its standard model in Punjab, where it has deputed several leaders from other states. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is frequently and regularly seen in Punjab. He belongs to the OBC community. Punjab has a large OBC community, and the BJP is apparently trying to appeal to it through Saini. That indeed may be helpful for the party, as the OBC community may identify with him.
At the same time, the BJP should use the services of its senior and veteran leaders from Punjab as well. Capt Amarinder may have his own style of working and functioning, which many in the BJP may not be comfortable adjusting to, but he has delivered phenomenally excellent results with the same style of working while being in the Congress.
For the Congress, Ms Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in particular, Amarinder’s loss must be haunting, not only for the state of civil war the party is in in Punjab, but also because of the accusations levelled by Ms Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of Navjot Singh Sidhu, that in the Congress one needs Rs 500 crore to become the Chief Minister, indirectly suggesting that this money was meant for the high command.
Capt Amarinder, during his interviews, categorically refuted these charges with his own example of how he was straightaway asked by Ms Gandhi to take oath as the Chief Minister after winning the elections. He could have avoided answering any question on the issue.
Ironically, it is the same ‘Sidhus’ for whom the Congress, and the Gandhi family in particular, betrayed and let down Capt Amarinder, with whom they had over five decades of family relations. Yet Capt Amarinder still came to their defence. That is the grace and that is the gravitas of the man. No wonder there are still so many leaders and workers in the Congress who miss him a lot.
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