Congress to not project CM face in Punjab polls unlike 2017 as Sidhu-Channi rift simmers

In a massive development, Congress officially announced that it will not project its CM face for the 2022 Punjab polls amid the tussle between CM Charanjit Singh Channi and the party's state president Navjot Sidhu. Making this revelation on Wednesday ahead of the Screening Committee meeting in the national capital, Punjab Election Campaign Committee chief Sunil Jakhar argued that Captain Amarinder Singh's announcement as the CM candidate in 2017 was an "exception". Maintaining that the election will be contested under "collective leadership", he added that the elected MLAs will decide the CM.

Ex-Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar remarked, "The CM face was announced only once. That was an exception. It was announced in 2017 that Captain Amarinder Singh will be our next CM. Before that, the CM face was never announced and the Congress high command has decided that the next election will be fought under collective leadership, i.e the Congress leadership. After the results, our elected MLAs will choose the CM irrespective of anyone feels good or bad." 

This is being perceived as a sign that Channi will be replaced as Sidhu if Congress wins the Punjab polls. Interestingly, Jakhar himself was reportedly miffed over being ignored for the CM's post and was accommodated in his present role after he publicly started taking potshots at Sidhu. On the other hand, other prospective CM aspirants ex-Union Minister Ambika Soni and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa have been appointed as the chairpersons of the Election Coordination Committee and the Manifesto Committee. 

Political scenario in Punjab

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly election, Congress won a whopping 77 seats in the 117-member House, whereas Shiromani Akali Dal could win only 18 seats. On the other hand, AAP emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats and failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. Despite winning a huge mandate, infighting erupted in the Congress camp after Sidhu started attacking the then CM Amarinder Singh over the purported delayed justice in the incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and the drug cases.

The situation escalated on September 18 after Congress summoned a Legislative Party meeting without keeping the Punjab CM in the loop. Amid growing speculation that Singh will be ousted, the latter tendered his resignation to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit at about 4.30 pm on the same day owing to "humiliation". However, Charanjit Singh Channi pipped Sidhu to the CM's post on September 20. More drama was in store in the poll-bound state as the latter stepped down as the state Congress chief on September 28.

Sidhu took back his resignation only after Channi replaced Amar Preet Singh Deol as the Advocate General of Punjab. The former cricketer had expressed dissatisfaction over Deol's appointment as the latter had appeared for former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and other accused in the sacrilege cases in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But, the Amritsar East MLA has continued his public criticism of the state government, disapproving of the "freebies" announced by the new Chief Minister. On November 25, he threatened to go on a hunger strike if the reports on drug menace and the sacrilege incident are not made public.