Why Congress is on a roll in Punjab

A spate of political defections is suddenly lending something of a toasty air to the otherwise bitingly cold wintery clime in poll-bound Punjab. And this time, believe it or not, the most significant beneficiary of the merry party-hopping that commenced almost immediately in the wake of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal releasing its first list of candidates last month, is Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress.

For a party that was struggling to stay in the race after decisive drubbings in two successive Assembly elections — in 2007 and 2012 — two things seem to be working for the Congress in the state.

The first, Rahul Gandhi’s decision to re-induct Amarinder as the state party president towards the end of 2015 considerably revived and re-enthused the previously moribund Congress rank and file.

The other thing that’s evidently doing it for the party was the high command’s choice of Prashant Kishor — the man with the enviable record of bringing Narendra Modi decisively to Delhi and then installing Nitish Kumar as CM in Patna — to craft strategies for the revival of the Congress in the country.

Since Amarinder took charge in December 2015, Kishor, despite the former’s penchant and reputation for "doing his own thing", was able to steer a cleverly crafted and structured campaign that Amarinder has adhered to surprisingly strictly. It must help, however, that the campaign this time is closely centred around Amarinder himself with almost no reference to any central leader.

In fact, the sprawling office floor in Mohali from where Kishor and some 200 young volunteers — including many young professionals passing time to "feel the thrill of a searing poll campaign" — manage the Punjab Congress’s campaign is pasted with images of Amarinder. There is no other face in evidence.

Amarinder has worked in tandem with Kishor’s evolving poll strategy. It started out with the "Coffee with Captain" get-togethers and the "Halke wich Captain (Captain in the constituency)" campaigns, that were targeted at poll sops including one job for every family, 33 per cent reservation in government jobs for womenfolk, farm loan off-sets and waivers, and even free smartphones to give rural Punjabi youth an extra edge.

All in all, it seems that the strategy is working to put Congress in the lead, at least in the perception battle. And we all know just how critical perceptions can be in any election.

Although there is no barometer to measure just where Amarinder and the Congress are vis-à-vis Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and the ruling SAD-BJP dispensation, the flurry of politicians from rival parties queuing up to join the Congress could perhaps be an indication.

Consider this: since October, no less than 18 SAD leaders, 10 AAP politicians and two BJP leaders have opted for the Congress. And this is only counting the significant faces. Starting with Inderbir Bolaria, the sitting SAD MLA from Amritsar South, and the party’s district chief Upkar Sandhu on October 11, Amarinder has hosted a virtual flood of new recruits from SAD and AAP.

This includes several incumbent and former legislators, MPs and ex-MPs, AAP’s state vice-president, and the entire family of SAD’s Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubaya. The newest "joinee" is Yamini Gomar, a front-running AAP candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

While much of the party-hopping must be viewed as political opportunism, it becomes difficult to ignore the fact that both former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu’s legislator wife, Navjot Kaur, and SAD’s Jalandhar Cantt MLA and hockey captain Pargat Singh, who were widely seen to be headed into the AAP, have found a new political home with the Congress.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Also read: The costly blunder Akalis and Congress are making in Punjab