A war of words among the senior members has put the party in a bad light.Political observers say that failure to reconcile the differences might dent the party’s prospects in the parliamentary polls like it did in the 2022 assembly elections. Last week, state’s leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa accused former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu of creating a parallel forum within the Congress through separate rallies and advised him to align with the official platform. Bajwa even blamed him for the 2022 debacle.
In response, Sidhu shared a post on ‘X’ via his social activist supporter Malwinder Singh Malli, blaming Bajwa for the party’s downfall.
He also shared a message from five former MLAs on ‘X’, claiming that neither they nor he were invited to the state party events. Another group went to the press for seeking Sidhu’s head over alleged indiscipline. In a veiled reference to Sidhu, state party president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring warned certain leaders to stay disciplined.
Bringing everyone together through dialogue will be Yadav’s task. Claiming to be confident of pulling it off, he said: “I prefer sitting together for conflict resolution. We will go into the Lok Sabha elections as united.” There are talks of a potential alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for this campaign, but the state Congress leadership is opposed to the idea. Yadav’s next daunting task is to persuade them to work with AAP if the high command desires.
AAP is part of the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) of more than 20 political parties that will take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the 2024 general elections, but AAP also governs Punjab, where the Congress is the main opposition.
Yadav claims that his plan is to first take feedback from the state party leadership and share it with the high command.
The 51-year-old from Delhi will also have to strengthen the party’s organisational structure in the state, about which he said: “The Punjab Congress is a formidable force already and my job is to make it stronger for the coming polls.”