It is official now that Charanjit Singh Channi shall be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the Congress if it is able to form the next government in Punjab. Ending the speculation at a rally in Ludhiana, Rahul Gandhi announced Channi’s name in the presence of both other contenders, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Jakhar. As expected, both Sidhu and Jakhar have accepted the decision though it is not clear whether they would stop making comments that have been hurting the party in the past few days. Sidhu was in a defiant mood till Saturday as he had declared that the High Command wanted to make a weak Chief Minister who could be remotely controlled from New Delhi. However, this bravado was missing on Sunday and the former Cricketer beat a hasty retreat and stated that he would abide by the decision. In fact, he had little option since there is no place where he could have gone at this stage, having burnt his bridges with all major political players of the border state.
Rahul Gandhi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Charanjit Singh Channi, and Sunil Jakhar raise hands during the virtual rally ahead of the state Assembly election, in Ludhiana on Sunday. ANI
In order to prolong his political innings, he has no other alternate route at this juncture and winning from Amritsar East should be his top priority now. The motions regarding naming Sidhu were done in public view when Rahul Gandhi arrived accompanied by both Sidhu and Channi who were in the vehicle driven by Jakhar. The idea was to present a united face of the party since mudslinging by leaders against each other has hurt the prospects, and the Congress cannot afford any longer to allow this to carry on. Channi has been picked up primarily because he has acquitted himself with political maturity in the past few months and his presence in the fray as the spearhead, has to some degree blunted the attack of both the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal. While justifying Channi’s choice, Rahul Gandhi stated that he was selected because he understands the plight of the poor more than anybody else in this electoral battle. The political logic was that if had been dumped, the consequences of the action would have had ramifications for the Congress in other parts of the country. Channi is a Dalit and the fifth Dalit CM appointed by the Congress after D. Sanjivayya, Bhola Paswan, Jagan Nath Pahadia and Sushil Kumar Shinde. Although, Rahul is considered to be the Congress High Command by everyone in the party, yet his status remains de-facto since he holds no official position. This is the reason, some of his critics wanted to know in what capacity had he made this declaration. There were also conjectures about Jakhar, who according to some reports, had in the morning, announced his retirement from public life.
If this was to be true, again the timing of this decision was all wrong even if the Chairman of the Campaign Committee is peeved at being overlooked for the CM’s position some months ago. His detractors believe that Jakhar would now want the High Command to make a commitment of giving him a Rajya Sabha or would weigh his options after the outcome of the assembly polls was known on March 10. Either way, some more developments are likely to take place in the next few weeks. On another note, Lok Sabha MP, Manish Tewari tweeted on Saturday after being excluded from the list of star campaigners in the state that he would have been pleasantly surprised if his name had figured in the notification. Manish has been in a rebellious mood and on the issue of the Prime Minister’s security breach, had expressed an opinion that suited the BJP narrative. His being dropped may have been because of his statement. With barely two weeks left for the polling, it is to be seen whether any other leader would rock the boat and how Channi shall steer the Congress ship out of choppy waters.