On the day of his ignominious ouster, Amarinder Singh proudly said he was wearing his regimental olive green turban, perhaps more to reassure himself that he at 79 remains a fighter.
He later said he has a lot of "dum" (strength) still left in him. But the embattled Amarinder Singh can neither claim his ouster to have been a coup by the high command nor a move that took him by surprise. He saw it coming, but four-and-a-half years in the saddle as chief minister; it was too late for this scion of the erstwhile Patiala royals to make amends.
His abrupt humiliating exit indicated that he had fallen out of favour with the Gandhis. His long-drawn equation with Sonia Gandhi proved worthless in the end, as it underlined a decisive generational shift, rightly or otherwise, in decision making by the junior Gandhi siblings - Rahul and Priyanka.
Amarinder Singh claims Sonia Gandhi initially did not want him to resign. But things changed dramatically, and the writ of the junior Gandhis prevailed. A senior Congressman hailed Rahul Gandhi's bold decision on Punjab akin to the "Alexandrian solution to this Punjabi version of the Gordian knot."
But did the Congress find a scapegoat in Amarinder Singh to tide over the prospect of anti-incumbency with just a few months left for the Assembly polls in this border state? That may unravel, but it has arguably made the situation slip from bad to worse. The Congress is bound to lose political traction with Amarinder Singh's exit, and rapprochement appears bleak.
Amarinder Singh asserts he is not hanging his boots anytime soon, and his opponents can't be more in error to assume that Amarinder Singh can be written off. Off late, the Congress high command had been impatient with Amarinder Singh. His party men's escalating dissent against him, including hordes of Congress MLAs in Punjab, did not come about overnight. The anointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress president in the face of belligerent resistance by Amarinder Singh was the writing on the wall for him.
Amarinder Singh's ministerial colleagues couldn't care less in slamming him over his alleged failures and below-the-mark performance. They even accused him of colluding with the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badals.
Amarinder Singh's war on drugs had left much to be desired. His poll promises are still works-in-progress, and justice in the sensitive sacrilege cases still eludes. His accessibility to the public remained poor, and the governance of the state was outsourced to the bureaucracy. His select coterie had increasingly become an eyesore in the public perception. Amarinder Singh's ratings had plunged.
But despite the odds stacked against him, the Congress was still seen as a frontrunner to regain power in 2022 and Amarinder Singh its best bet, at least until Sidhu, his principal detractor, arrived to challenge him.
Amarinder Singh's ouster will not help the party square the circle in a short span ahead of the polls. The Akali Dal - BJP alliance had split, and the farmers' movement was there to advantage the Congress. The formidable Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to reap the harvest of Congresses internal strife. Amarinder Singh, for now, has chosen to keep his ammunition dry. His next move will determine to what extent his ouster might damage the Congress party.
(The writer is a journalist based in Chandigarh)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks