Punjab Congress divided on tie-up with AAP
Of the seven Congress MPs, at least four have favoured the party’s alliance with the AAP in the state; Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa have been opposing the tie-up in Punjab
The opinion in the Punjab Congress over the party’s tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state for Parliamentary polls next year is sharply divided.
While a large section of state leaders, including Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress Legislature Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, has been opposing the tie-up in Punjab, most of the Congress MPs from the state are positive about the coalition with the AAP and the significance it holds for the 28-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), in putting up a united fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in general elections.
Of the seven Congress MPs, at least four are in the favour of the party’s alliance in the state. Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu was the first to speak up last week in support of the coalition. The three-time MP, in a video statement, not only backed the Congress high command’s decision but also took on party leaders who were publicly opposing the alliance with AAP by telling them to send their resignations to the high command.
HT spoke to five Congress MPs from the state, of which three favoured the alliance, citing the Opposition bloc’s goal of challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP. Gurjeet Singh Aujla, a two-time MP from Amritsar, said the Congress high command’s decision is final. “We have to abide by it. If any party leader, MP or district president has anything to say, they can convey their views to the Central leadership on the party platform…but they also need to understand the high command’s stand and sentiment of the nation,” he added.
Another Lok Sabha MP said the national-level alliance has been done and seat-sharing talks will commence soon. “These are big decisions that are taken by the high command, keeping the larger objective in mind. We have to understand that Congress is the axis of INDIA and has to show the way. If we all work together and have seat sharing in all the states with a little give or take here and there, it will be beneficial for every alliance partner,” said the MP who did not want to be named due to the ongoing slugfest in the state unit over the issue.
Earlier, former PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had also supported the alliance with AAP. However, several state unit functionaries, legislators, and former ministers, who opposed the alliance at a party meeting here about two weeks ago, continue to voice their concerns over the political fallout of such an alliance for the party. “The AAP is in power in Punjab and its government has been carrying out political vendetta against our leaders. If we, the principal Opposition party, enter a seat-sharing pact with the AAP, it will be detrimental to the interests of the Congress in the state,” a former minister said.
Bajwa also expressed strong reservations against the Congress-AAP alliance at the Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday, conveying to the leadership that the tie-up would only help the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the party should go alone in the state. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge intervened and said this was not the meeting for seat-sharing. Kharge also said no decision would be taken without consulting the state units.
One of the state MPs said the 2024 LS election would be a big fight, and no one party presently looks in a position to defeat Modi. “If Rahul, Kharge, Nitish, and Lalu have decided to come together, they must have done their homework. I am sure the Congress high command will be able to bring the state unit leaders who have reservations around,” he said.
The Congress MPs include Jasbir Singh Dimpa, Preneet Kaur, Mohammad Sadique, Dr Amar Singh, and Manish Tewari. Preneet Kaur, Patiala MP and wife of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, was suspended from the party in February 2023 for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. Capt Amarinder, who headed the Congress government in Punjab from 2017 to 2021, is now in the BJP.