Barely hours
before Charanjit Channi was sworn-in as Punjab chief minister, the fault-lines
within Punjab Congress became further apparent after a remark by Harish Rawat,
Congress’ state-in-charge attracted the attention of former Congress chief
Sunil Jakhar. Harish Rawat, who is among the Congress’ senior-most leaders and
the state in charge of Punjab, said that Congress will contest the Punjab
assembly elections in 2022 under the leadership of Navjot Sidhu.

Responding to
Harish Rawat’s comment, Sunil Jakhar, who was briefly in the running for the
chief minister’s post, wrote on Twitter: “On the swearing-in day of Sh Charanjit
Channi as Chief Minister, Mr Rawat’s statement that ‘elections will be fought
under Sidhu’, is baffling.”

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“It’s likely to
undermine the CM’s authority but also negate the very ‘raison d’etre’ of his
selection to this position,” Jakhar, the man who was replaced to give Sidhu the
Congress command in Punjab, said.

On Sunday, the
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) decided that Charanjit Channi would replace
veteran Congress leader Amarinder Singh as the chief minister of Punjab. Monday
morning’s conflict between Harish Rawat and Sunil Jakhar does show that despite
claims of consensus, several interest groups within the Congress are working at
cross-purposes.

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Harish Rawat,
after announcing Charanjit Channi as the next chief minister of Punjab, said on
Sunday, “It (the party’s chief ministerial candidate) will be decided by the
Congress president, but given the circumstances, the election will be fought
with the Chief Minister’s cabinet (and) under the Punjab Pradesh Congress
Committee, whose chief is Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is very popular.” 

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On the day Amarinder Singh resigned as the chief minister of Punjab, Jakhar had said, “Kudos to Sh Rahul Gandhi for adopting Alexandrian solution to this punjabi version of Gordian knot. Surprisingly, this bold leadership decision to resolve Punjab Congress imbroglio has not only enthralled congress workers but has sent shudders down the spines of akalis (sic).”

At the center of
the tensions is cricketer-turned comedy show judge-turned politician Navjot
Singh Sidhu. A turncoat from the BJP, Sidhu has zoomed into the top echelons of
the Congress party in a very short time. In his journey to the top, Sidhu has
not flinched at alienating veteran Congress leaders in Punjab.

Sidhu’s biggest
show of strength was getting Amarinder Singh to resign from the CM’s post. Amarinder
Singh is a regional satrap with a decades-long mass base. Singh’s family holds
a special place in Patiala’s regional dynamics as well. The fact that Sidhu, an
outsider to the Congress, could come along and gain so much power, is unbelievable,
yet true.