Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 20

The rebellion in the Punjab Congress finds sense in the proverbial utterance that ‘politics makes strange bedfellows’.

The ‘architects’ of the rebellion against Capt Amarinder Singh once swore by his name. They had pulled all stops to topple Partap Singh Bajwa as the PCC chief in 2015, cutting short his term midway. The ‘Majha brigade’, a group of three ministers from the region, namely Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sukhbinder Sarkaria, are now leaving no stone unturned in trying to unsettle the CM to make way for Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The leaders have once again shown their political acumen by opting to side with the leader they thought can lead their party to power. After enjoying significant portfolios for four and a half years, the leaders started airing differences with Capt Amarinder Singh, particularly after the adverse verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the Kotkapura police firing case.

Another leader of the Malwa region, Charanjit Singh Channi, is learnt to have played an important role in meeting the party leadership in communicating the displeasure with the Congress on the ground. He had been holding meetings with Partap Bajwa, Sidhu and Randhawa since April to bring them on the same page.

Political analysts say Sidhu’s appointment has not resolved the crisis in the state party unit, rather it could be the beginning of a protracted battle for supremacy. Others feel Sidhu’s elevation as the PCC chief is just the first phase of a larger plot in an attempt to pull down the royal scion.