How Congress scripted Punjab victory

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 11

Given the party’s spectacular performance in Punjab today, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi would be looking back at his November 2015 decision to bring Amarinder Singh to the helm of state affairs with a great deal of satisfaction.

The November 25, 2015, announcement to make Amarinder the Punjab Congress president came late in the day after Singh’s long battle of nerves with predecessor Partap Bajwa. It was, however, a decision that brought the Congress back in reckoning in Punjab when AAP was surging ahead as a potential winner.

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“Amarinder’s appointment brought the Congress back in fight. We were now there and the rest was a matter of unity and strategy,” said a Congress insider acknowledging that the move galvanised Punjab ranks behind Amarinder and prepared a battle-ready army for the Congress.

The second turning point in the party’s Punjab prospects came with the arrival of strategist Prashant Kishor on the scene in June 2016. Amarinder personally asked Gandhi to hire him and the gamble paid.

“Kishor’s campaign took Amarinder to all sections of people, youth and women farmers and traders. Kishor’s team ensured he was visible throughout the campaign through plans such as Coffee with Capt, Halke vich Capt and others,” said another Congress leader.

The third turning point for Congress came when senior Himachal Congress MLA Asha Kumari was named state incharge after the gaffe involving the earlier naming of Kamal Nath as AICC general secretary for the state.

“Asha Kumari brought rival factions in Punjab Congress together. Partap Bajwa, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Brahm Mohindra, known Amarinder rivals, were suddenly standing with him publicly. 

With bonhomie back in the state unit, the final challenge of ticket distribution was met well as Amarinder Singh stuck to a “one family, one ticket rule” bending it for none. The final campaign push for the Congress came in mid-January when Navjot Singh Sidhu joined the party.

Though the Congress started its campaign after June 2016, well after AAP, the strategic staggered low key canvassing paid off and complemented social engineering in candidate selection. By the time Congress campaign peaked, that of AAP had plateaued. AAP had also by then fallen into the mould of a conventional political party facing dissidence and desertions. When that happened, the Congress emerged as a more viable option to electors seeking to send the Akali-BJP government packing.