Congress in Punjab is facing a problem which is harmless as of now but can escalate into an untameable beast during 2022 assembly election. The party is challenged with accommodating two leaders-Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Placing Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress president would create two power centres in the party in the state prior to 2022 assembly elections, to the chagrin of Captain Amarinder Singh. Not giving Sidhu a respectable place has the risk of losing him, when he is the centre of attention for raising voices over important & pertinent issues. This has placed Congress in a catch-22 situation.

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Having two leaders in a state competing against each other has not played well lately for the grand old party of India. Just before the 2019 assembly polls, Bhupinder Singh Hooda got charge of the state election in Haryana, and Kumari Selja was made the party president. This arrangement subsequently cost the party the assembly election. The supporters of Hooda stated that they had got the charge of the election very late and their gains were lost in the purported strongholds of Selja in North Haryana. Rajasthan congress witnessed friction between Sachin pilot, the Deputy chief minister and the CM Ashok Gehlot. Pilot continued as the state party chief after elections and he was involved in political sparring with the CM. This situation had placed the state leadership very scared last year and ultimately Pilot lost both of his posts.

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In UP, during the assembly election in 2017, Samajwadi party faced a situation of conflict. It was between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. SP Party cadre was controlled by Shivpal Yadav. The friction caused a delay in ticket distribution and which in turn delayed the campaign. Hence, the divided SP house led to its crushing defeat in the 2017 assembly elections.

However, in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister objected to the system of twin power centres being created. As a result, Jyotiraditya Scindia was not given the post of state party chief. Kamal Nath has retained the post of the state party chief along with being the Chief Minister. But, that led Scindia to finally quit the party to go to BJP. That jump of turncoat Scindia brought down the Nath government in the bargain. So it showed that not creating twin power centres can expose the possible turncoats in the party at state level.

With regards to the case of Navjot Singh Sidhu, it is the Madhya Pradesh fiasco that is bearing heavy on the mind of Congress high commands.

In Punjab congress, two state ministers who are close to CM Amarinder Singh stated that appointing Sidhu as the state party chief would further complicate the muddled waters for the party in Punjab rather than resolve matters.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one senior minister said, “Going into the elections, the next tussle then would be over ticket distribution with both camps seeking more tickets for their loyalists as Sidhu has Chief Ministerial ambitions and needs support of the MLAs after polls. Right now, even the CM’s adversaries do not support Sidhu for state president post.”

The second minister said that this issue would bring party factionalism out in the open during distribution of tickets, and possibly delay the process and leave selected candidates eventually with bare minimum time to campaign.

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The mere idea of Sidhu and Amarinder Singh sharing the stage during election campaign is giving sweats to many congress leaders in Delhi & Chandigarh. It is because apart from the current friction between them, Punjab’s current CM has made a case for Sidhu to be severely punished rather than be placated.

Sidhu remains a popular face in Punjab, especially on account of his aggressive stance against the Badals. Hence the congress high command cannot risk not accommodating him in the state congress. In the last elections, AAP’s past negotiations with Sidhu have helped strengthened the case of Sidhu’s virtual indispensability before the party High Command.

Navjot Sidhu who describes himself as “Master of All Trades, jack of none, All-in-One” has currently stirred a hornet’s nest for Congress. This is especially because after the beginning of the farmers’ protests, congress had built its game around gathering the support and voice for the farmers. The gains made in those areas may be reversed or lost if congress cannot trade the line carefully on Sidhu. What is more concerning for Captain Amarinder Singh is that Sidhu was able to secure a meeting with the Congress’ top-most leadership. He met both Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as Rahul Gandhi. After Sidhu’s Wednesday meeting with the party high command, it was suggested that he was offered a role that could placate him.

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In a probable counter-step to Sidhu’s Wednesday meeting, Amarinder Singh hosted a congregation of Hindu leaders of the party for lunch. He rallied them in his favour against Sidhu’s speculated elevation.  The CM of Punjab said that to manage religious and regional balance, the party’s state chief should be a Hindu as both he and Sidhu were Jat Sikhs from Patiala.

Such kind of an arrangement to make a Hindu leader as the working president of the party, along with Sidhu’s elevation, could be a compromise formula. But, this may only be a short-term truce within the party.

Whatever may be the solution of the friction between Sidhu and Amarinder singh, Sidhu continues to remain the centre of headlines and attention with his antics. In a small win, Sidhu had given the Punjab CM a deadline to fulfil 18 poll promises made by the AICC panel prior to 2017 election. Because he has raised the issues of drug traffickers, the transport mafia and especially Bargari sacrilege case of 2015, Sidhu has continued to be in public attention.

The case of conflict in Punjab Congress can be considered as an ongoing slow implosion in the party at the state level. The solution can be tricky and will need patience to be worked out between Sidhu and the Amarinder Singh. The Congress must also consider that if they try to bring in religious angles in sorting out the conflict, other parties like BJP are ready to jump and snatch the game.