After announcing Sheila Dikshit as the chief ministerial candidate for UP in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, the AICC is delaying the announcement of Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial
After announcing Sheila Dikshit as the chief ministerial candidate for UP in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, the AICC is delaying the announcement of Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, which is going to the polls in six months.
It is also unclear when the Congress will be projecting its “faces” for the Goa and Gujarat Assembly polls next year.
While Ms Dikshit, the former Delhi chief minister, might not contest the polls, her main job is to bring Brahmins back to the party and thus dent the BJP’s support base. The Congress is wooing the upper castes at a time when the SP, BSP and BJP are focusing on the backwards and most backward castes.
But the party is tightlipped on the number of seats it wants to fight seriously in UP.
Ms Dikshit meanwhile has decided to camp in Lucknow till the polls and work with AICC general secretary Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and UPCC president Mr Raj Babbar, whose primary responsibility is to attract minorities and thereby weaken the support base of the SP and the BSP.
But such enthusiasm is not seen in Punjab. The AICC has virtually given a free hand to Mr Singh, who is heading the state Congress. The role of AICC secretary Ms Asha Kumari and campaign committee chief Ms Ambika Soni meanwhile is to assist Capt. Singh. Other than this, the party leadership is postponing a decision to announce Mr Singh as the CM candidate.
Congress insiders meanwhile are unable to explain the delay. But it could be that Capt. Singh’s announcement might intensify factional fights within the Punjab Congress. This is because he has been leading the battle from the front, attracting youth, attacking the ruling Shiromani Aakali Dal-BJP combine and trying to check the AAP from getting a space in the state.
The Punjab polls are crucial for the Congress because its outcome will have a bearing on the UP polls. The Congress is a player in Punjab, it has organisational structure and leaders. If the SAD-BJP combine is facing anti incumbency, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too could face difficulties if his opponents raise his roots in Haryana during the campaign.
