Punjab polls: In Channi anointment, a unity game plan by Congress

Charanjit Singh Channi may not have been the Congress’s first choice when it picked him to replace Captain Amarinder Singh in September last year as the first Dalit chief minister in post-Independence Punjab.

But there was no such confusion this time. Sunday’s announcement by Rahul Gandhi on 58-year-old Channi as the party’s CM face for the February 20 elections was pretty much on the expected lines.

The real surprise at the virtual ‘Awaaz Punjab di’ rally in Ludhiana was a carefully-choreographed show of unity -- ostensibly at the behest of high command -- by its frontline state leaders Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Jakhar who, until yesterday, were at odds that made the party a divided house just two weeks ahead of polls.

Channi’s anointment has capped, for now, intense jockeying for chief ministerial sweepstakes by an ambitious Sidhu, who apparently acquiesced to the high command’s game plan for a shot at retaining power in the border state.

That the mercurial state Congress chief has piped down was evident in his full-throated endorsement of Rahul’s pick of his prime rival in power tussle. It left little doubt that the Gandhi family has leveraged its close equation with Sidhu to placate him when it mattered the most

Having projected Channi as an emblem of Dalit empowerment, the Congress is leaning heavily on him to corner a big chunk of the 32% Scheduled Caste (SC) votes – the highest proportion of population in the country – that has the potential to change the poll math in nearly 48 of 117 assembly segments (including 34 reserve seats).

In fact, the Congress gave the first hint of Channi being integral to its electoral gameplan last week by fielding him from the second seat of Bhadaur, a reserved constitutency of Barnala district, in addition to his declared seat of Chamkaur Sahib that he has won thrice.

The move was meant as much to bolster his credentials as the CM face, as to counter a resurgent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Malwa region, which with 69 seats ( roughly 60 per cent of total assembly segments), holds the key to Chandigarh. The AAP had won most of its 20 seats in 2017 in Malwa, and its catchy election slogan ‘ek mauka Kejriwal nu’ (one chance to Kejriwal) is again resonating in the region.

At the same time, the Congress is also looking to checkmate the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) pre-poll alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which, though no longer the force it used to be, could make a dent. “ This is the first time that Punjab’s SC population has a CM candidate from their community,” said a Punjab Congress MP.

The messaging of Rahul’s choice of words, especially his stress on Channi being from a “poor family” and “one who understands poverty and hunger” was also not lost on many. Implicit in Rahul’s Punjab gambit is his ‘two-Indias’ narrative to resurrect party’s fortunes beyond 2022.

Equally significant in the Ludhiana rally was the optics of putting Channi, Sidhu and Jakhar together. For the troika represents the Congress’s outreach to three crucial religio-caste votebanks: the Dalits, Jat Sikhs and Hindus. Not surprisingly, Rahul chose to rub on Channi’s class credentials rather than caste, mindful of pitfalls of backlash among the upper caste voters.

By all accounts, Channi was a natural choice for the party. With an unfailingly ‘one-of-you’ outlook and a popular touch since his surprise elevation to the top job, he has assiduously earned political equity, projecting himself as the real ‘aam aadmi’. With no known rough edges, he enjoyed a greater acceptability in the party rank and file than Sidhu.

Though the Enforcement Directorate’s recent raids and arrest of Channi’s nephew in the sand mining case has lent political arsenal to rivals, the Congress’s damage control has centered on calling it political vendetta. That explains Channi playing the victim card, dubbing the ED action as the BJP’s retribution for not clearing the farmers’ protest en route to Prime Minister’s aborted rally in Ferozepur last month.

In the Congress reckoning, a consensual call on Channi will be a game changer and lend crucial, last-stretch momentum to its campaign, so far overshadowed by confusion and infighting. “This can potentially galvanize the party rank and file,” said Ashutosh Kumar, professor of political science at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

But, not everyone in the party is so sure about Channi’s impact on poll prospects.

A seasoned party leader interpreted the announcement as a damage control exercise as the euphoria created by Channi’s appointment as the chief minister in the initial stages was petering out. “This is a last-ditch effort to check the erosion, but it is no longer the game changer that it is being made out to be,” said the leader.

There is apprehension among a section of Congress leaders about its impact on the party’s support base among the Jat Sikhs, who constitute 18% of the state’s population and have been dominating the political space in the state for decades.

Another worry, a bigger one, is Sidhu’s next move. Though he gave an assurance to abide by the decision and raised Channi’s hand after his name was declared, Sidhu, known for his mercurial streak, is unlikely to play the second fiddle for too long. While he has lost the race to become the CM face, Sidhu has a tough fight on hand in his home constituency, Amritsar East, where he has been being challenged by friend-turned-Akali foe Bikram Singh Majitha. And, he just cannot afford to lose this one.