Pioneer
Analysis
Amitabh
Shukla
Congress
Vice President Rahul Gandhi might have tried to score meaningless brownie
points over the SAD-BJP combine with his sit-in against the drugs menace at
Jalandhar in Punjab on Monday, but for
the party the state seems to be a lost cause now. A day before, the
party gave a big stick to its rivals in the state to beat it with the
appointment of Kamal Nath as the AICC General Secretary in-charge of the
poll-bound Punjab.
“With
one stroke of the pen, Congress leadership seems to have handed over Punjab to
the SAD-BJP combine and the Aam Aadmi Party,” said a senior Congress leader
here, on the appointment of Kamal Nath, whose name figured as one of the
Congress leaders allegedly involved in the 1984 riots.
The
leader reasoned, “it is not a question of being found guilty by a court of
law…or not being charge sheeted. It is a question of perception which is what
matters in politics, particularly when elections are a little over six months
away”.
The
appointment of the 69-year old MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh would have
wide ranging political ramifications in the state and whatever momentum Capt
Amarinder Singh was building ever since his appointment as PCC President would
be lost in no time.
Besides
Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, two Congress leaders, whose name have
repeatedly figured in various Commissions of enquiry, reports and eye-witness
accounts, Kamal Nath was the third prominent leader whose name was associated
with the mob violence against the Sikhs at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj in the heart of
New Delhi.
While
Congress ensured over the years that Kumar and Tytler have nothing to do with
Punjab and of late, have been sidelined completely, Kamal Nath is the sole
leader with the 1984 taint who has continuously been a minister whenever the
Congress was in power and has been its longest serving MP now with nine terms.
His imposition, all of a sudden in Punjab, has opened the old wounds of the
Sikhs and triggered an anti Congress undercurrent which would be reflected in
the elections a few months down the line.
Being
an extremely sensitive state where religion mixes freely with politics and vice
versa, not only the Sikh hardliners but even the moderate leaders would find an issue around which they can
spin their politics in the run-up to the February 2017 polls. Already the
SAD-BJP combine and the AAP has launched a virulent campaign against the
Congress on the issue, putting it on the defensive.
Not
that an AICC General Secretary has much to do with electioneering and
campaigning in a state but the symbolic gesture of the appointment itself is
fraught with danger for the party.
Congress was on a revival mode, helped by the two-term anti-incumbency
against the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the unpopularity of some of the
leaders of the ruling combine. The appointment of Capt Amarinder and bringing
in Prashant Kishor boosted the morale of the grassroots Congress worker in the
state, lying low for nine years now.
“How
will these workers canvass for the Congress when rural Sikhs question them
about the role of Kamal Nath? Won’t they become defensive straight away?” asked
another leader. He added, “Sikhs are
emotional and sensitive and no amount of convincing that he was never charge
sheeted or had a role in the riots, would cut the ice,” he added.
For
the last half a century, Punjab had always been a two-party state with Congress
on one hand and the Akalis on the other hand of the political divide. AAP
emerged only at the time of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and now is a force to
reckon with. With such a decision, many now say that soon Punjab would be back
to the two-party system with SAD-BJP on one side and AAP on the other and
Congress at the third spot.
Of
course, AICC General Secretaries do not win elections; however, hard they may
try. It is the public face of the party, its internal dynamism and the
perception of the people along with several other micro factors which does
that. General Secretaries are merely
back room operators who devise strategy, lobby for tickets for their faction
and help some get nomination for some and deny tickets to some. But Kamal Nath could perhaps be the first
general secretary of the party in recent years who would surely contribute to
the defeat due to the decision of the high command. Being a nine-term MP,
surely Kamal Nath knows what important role public perception plays in
politics.
So
what is the way ahead for the Congress? Simple. Take back the appointment with
immediate effect. Low profile leaders like Shakeel Ahmed whom he has replaced
or B K Hariprasad would do the job as effectively as Kamal Nath without the
heavy baggage of 1984 riots. But for that you need to first admit that the
appointment of Nath was a mistake. But is anyone in the Congress is ready to
admit that mistake, more so when it seems to have been made at the highest
level. (June 14, 2016)
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