Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann surprised many, while shocking the Congress, with his caustic comment on party leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that he lacked leadership quality. Although the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are daggers drawn at each other in the aftermath of the Delhi elections, the leaders of the two parties have, by and large, avoided direct personal attacks at the national level.
Even during the Delhi election campaign, most of the leaders of the two parties mostly resorted to generalised political posturing against each other. Both are currently part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
“He (Gandhi) does not have that quality. God has not given him that. Why are you pushing him to become a leader?” Mann was quoted by The Tribune, having told a private television channel about Gandhi’s leadership qualities. This obviously infuriated the Punjab Congress leaders including the state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the Congress Legislative Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa and the state party working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
Also read: Punjab faced with leadership vacuum?
Not surprisingly the Congress leaders accused Mann of doing the BJP’s bidding by criticising Gandhi to “please and appease the BJP”. Warring remarked, Mann had officially joined the BJP’s troll army as its foot soldier.
“An accidental Chief Minister commenting on the leadership qualities of a leader who has the history of generations of sacrifice behind him, to say the least, is outrageously dark comedy”, said Ashu on ‘X’.
Mann is one of the most astute and witty politicians, who knows what to say when. And the Congress leaders have got the right import of his message. The Aam Aadmi Party is poised for one of the toughest by-elections in Ludhiana West assembly segment. Although the by-elections have not been declared as yet, these are overdue, since the death of sitting AAP MLA from here Gurpreet Gogi.
The AAP has inadvertently ended up making it a battle of prestige by fielding the Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora from here. This has apparently been done to vacate a Rajya Sabha seat for the party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Arora will in any case resign as the party chief. But, the AAP cannot afford to lose the by-election since it will set the tone for the 2027 assembly elections.
After the AAP’s defeat in Delhi, the Congress morale has gone up and the party expects a comeback in 2027. A positive outcome in Ludhiana West will definitely further boost the morale of the party’s rank and file. Ludhiana West is “quite winnable” for the Congress, although the AAP has already launched a massive campaign in the constituency. Both the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal spent two days here, while launching their candidate, Sanjeev Arora, who will be fighting his maiden electoral battle.
Ludhiana West is a completely urban constituency, which has traditionally remained a Congress stronghold. However, the AAP won it in 2022. But in the 2024 General Elections, the AAP candidate came a poor third after the BJP and the Congress in this assembly segment. The BJP polled the maximum, about 45,000 votes, while the Congress got about thirty thousand while the AAP candidate got about 22,000 votes.
The result in the by-election is going to be completely different. Both the Congress as well as the AAP are eyeing the votes which went to the BJP in the parliamentary elections, apparently due to the Modi factor and Ram Mandir construction.
By positioning himself against Rahul Gandhi, Mann has directly tried to appeal to the section of voters, which might be looking for an “alternate option” in the by-elections. In all likelihood the Congress will be fielding Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a two-time MLA from here. He also commands good appeal among a section of the BJP supporters.
About a couple of weeks ago, senior BJP leader and Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a prominent Sikh face of the party, appealed to people of Ludhiana to elect “anyone”, but to ensure defeat of the AAP. The import of the message was not lost on anyone. This is being interpreted as a subtle message to the party supporters that they must vote for any candidate who can defeat the AAP, even if it meant not voting for the BJP.
The BJP’s leadership and the rank and file and their supporters on social media precisely say the same things about Rahul Gandhi, what Mann was quoted having said about him. His remarks must have directly echoed with the supporters of the BJP. Mann, while irritating the Congress, had definitely, at least, made the BJP supporters to agree with him. And he has a purpose in it. Otherwise he had no reason to make such remarks. Moreover, Mann is known for weighing his words carefully before speaking, even while he cracks jokes, which he cracks in abundance during his speeches, mostly targeted on opposition politicians.
Follow us
