JALANDHAR: If Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar is replaced to work out a peace formula to resolve Congress infighting in the state, he would be the party’s fall guy for the second time.
It is the chief minister who is facing discontentment but replacing Jakhar is becoming the most discussed workable solution.
In 2015, when Jakhar was the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, he had offered to step down to facilitate Capt Amarinder Singh’s appointment as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president.
The PPCC chief ’s post was then held by Partap Singh Bajwa, who was facing heat from party MLAs and several other leaders, who rallied behind Amarinder and wanted him to be the state Congress chief and lead the party in 2017 assembly elections.
Jakhar was putting his weight behind Amarinder and arguing that it was imperative to make the latter PCC president to bring Congress to power in Punjab.
He offered to step down as CLP leader to facilitate factional balance as the party high command might not have wanted a CLP leader also from the Amarinder camp.
Even though Jakhar was effectively attacking the SAD-BJP government inside and outside the assembly on various issues, he was replaced with Charanjit Singh Channi.
Later Channi made headlines with his famous “patchwork on roads” remark when then deputy CM Sukhbir Badal cornered him in the state assembly and asked about any major development project undertaken by the Congress government from 2002 to 2007.
Now when questions are being raised by the party MLAs and a few ministers on the working of the chief minister, Jakhar is again likely to face the axe even though no leader has questioned his working, at least not in the public domain.
He had recently said that if his removal from the post of PPCC chief helps strengthen the party, it should be done.
For the last 17 months, Jakhar has been heading the state Congress without any Pradesh or District Congress Committees, which were dissolved in January 2020 and PPCC Coordination Committee was constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi with AICC party affairs incharge Asha Kumari at the helm.
However this 11 member coordination committee did hold even a single meeting.
The Manifesto Implementation Committee also constituted at the same time also did not hold any meeting.
According to Congress insiders AICC incharge was supposed to meetings of both the committees.
Though discontentment at ground level was already brewing, both the committees failed to even start their work and crisis exacerbated to present level.