In Capt Amarinder Singh, the BJP has an ace of trumps up its sleeve. That is why the political parties
in Punjab have already grown curious, as he has resumed his political innings. Those who know him
closely, particularly his former colleagues in the Congress, are wary about his getting active in the
BJP, not only for his personal capability, but the charisma and appeal he enjoys among all sections
of people. When it comes to the ‘panthic credentials’, he has no rival either. And his nationalistic
credentials are too well known. He never shies away from taking a stand in the national interest even
if it is contrary to his own party’s stand

RECENTLY FORMER Punjab Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya
Janata Party leader Capt Amarinder Singh inducted one of his former aides,
Sunny Brar into the party in Faridkot. It was a reasonably good show with a
significantly substan tial number of people in attendance. It was after a long
time that Singh made a “public appearance” following a pro longed sabbatical.
Even when this was just a single out ing, it has started generating curiosity
about his role vis-à-vis the 2027 legisla tive assembly elections in Punjab.
Capt Amarinder is not a leader who can be taken lightly. Those who know him and those who have worked with him closely during the six decades of his political career, know it well that he has an
unmatched and unparalleled capacity of bouncing back from the wilderness with a
big bang. After his defeat from Patiala assembly segment in the 2022 elections
against an overwhelming electoral tsunami of the Aam Aadmi Party, people
started writing his political obituary. He contested 2022 assembly elections as
a candidate of the Punjab Lok Congress, a party he had formed after parting
ways with the Congress. Punjab Lok Congress had aligned with the BJP for the
2022 assem bly elections. But he was not the only former chief minister to
lose. So did Parkash Singh Badal, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal as also the then
sitting chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who lost from two assembly
segments he had contested from. Capt Amarinder was unceremoni ously removed as
the chief minister in September 2021. IIn hindsight, Congressmen without any exception admit that
had he not been removed and had the party contested the 2022 assem bly
elections under his leadership, the party would not have fared so badly. It won
just 18 of the 117 assembly seg ments. In 2017, he had led the party to a
landslide victory on 77 seats. Capt Amarinder and the Congress was a perfect
combo in Punjab. It was he who had led the Congress back to pow er in 2002,
after the dark era of mili tancy which saw Operation Bluestar and the 1984 anti-Sikh
massacre in the after math of the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her own
Sikh bodyguards. Although the Congress had formed the government in 1992 also,
those elections had seen a negligible voter turnout. But those elections did
help in restoring the political order in the state. Capt Amarinder led the
party to two consecutive defeats in 2007 and 2012. On both the occasions, his
rivals wrote his extensive political obituaries. After losing in 2007, he faced
a vindictive Akali-BJP government which even struck down his membership of the
assembly. This was, however, restored by the Supreme Court of India.The Congress, which ignored and tried to sideline him for quite some time, even tually handed him the reins ahead of the 2012 elections.
As ill luck would have it, the Congress again lost the elections, although
there was hardly one per cent difference in the popular vote share. That was
thought to be the last innings of Capt Amarinder as he had delivered two
“back-to-back defeats” for the party. Moreover, it was for the first time that
a sitting government had been reelected in Punjab. Within less than a year he
was removed as the Punjab Congress president and replaced by Partap Singh
Bajwa. While living in virtual political wilder ness, with Bajwa having
positioned himself as the natural successor and a prospective chief ministerial
candidate for 2017 elections, the 2014 General Elections were announced.

There was a strong nationwide anti-incumbency against the
Congress. The BJP’s victory was a foregone conclusion. Bajwa, who was the PCC
president and sitting MP from Gurdaspur had developed close proximity with the
high command. He suggested that the party should field prominent faces and
senior leaders in Punjab from all the parliamentary con stituencies. The BJP
had announced veteran leader Arun Jaitley as its candidate from the Amritsar
parliamentary constituency. The party that time was in alliance with the
Shiromani Akali Dal in the state. The alliance was in power in Punjab. Amritsar
was thought to be a “safe” seat for the BJP as Navjot Singh Sidhu had con
secutively won it thrice, since 2004. Moreover, given the stature of Jaitley,
with an alliance government in the state, his (Jaitley’s) victory was taken to
be for granted. Bajwa specifically proposed Capt Amarinder’s name as the party
candidate from Amritsar to fight against Jaitley. He was sure and confident that he (Capt Amarinder) will
refuse to fight and that would be the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back
and the end of his political career. And even if Capt Amarinder would accept
the contest he, according to Bajwa’s calculations, would certainly get defeated
by Jaitley and would mark the end of his political career. This would obviously
clear the path for him (Bajwa) as he would have been left with no competitor,
not at least as powerful as someone like Capt Amarinder. To Bajwa’s utter delight, Capt Amarinder initially refused and declined to contest the parliamentary elections, obviously being
apprehensive to take on Jaitley with all the odds  stacked in his (Jaitley’s) favour. However,
one phone call from Sonia Gandhi, who was the party president at that time,
changed the course of Congress’ political history in Punjab. Capt Amarinder, as
he later revealed, was on his way from Delhi to Chandigarh when he received the
phone call from Gandhi. She reportedly asked him wheth er he can do “something
for her”. Naturally, Capt Amarinder replied in the affirmative and she asked
him to fight from Amritsar. Since he had assured her that he could do anything
for her, he agreed to fight, which indeed was one of the greatest challenges in
his political career. Not many people know that when the Indo-Pak War broke out
in 1965, Capt Amarinder had already taken a premature retirement from the Army
as his father had been appointed India’s ambassador to Holland. But once the
war broke out, he rejoined the Army and went to the battlefront in the Western
theatre as the ADC to Western Commander Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh. Capt Amarinder
is a perennial soldier at heart. He took the Amritsar challenge head on like a soldier in the
midst of a battle. While Jaitley had been announced long before, Capt Amarinder
got limited time as his candidature was announced at the last moment. Nobody
thought that he could defeat Jaitley. For three weeks, he worked hard like a
soldier on the warfront. He would be ready and out before 7 in the morning and
return only late in the night around 11. Otherwise thought to be taking things
in a relaxed way, his determination and hard work surprised everyone. And it
worked and paid off. Cap Amarinder defeated Jaitley by a huge margin of over
one lakh votes and that too when there was nationwide BJP surge. He literally
stopped the BJP wave in Punjab. Partap Singh Bajwa, who had pushed Capt
Amarinder to fight from Amritsar, lost from the neighbouring Gurdaspur
constituency to Vinod Khanna by about 1.5 lakh votes. This heralded the “political reincarnation” of Capt
Amarinder. Soon the entire Congress party in Punjab, which had ditched and
deserted him and virtually written him off, began to rally around him again. He
was again reappointed the PCC president to lead the party to an emphatic and
historic victory in 2017 assembly elec tions. The AAP, which eventually formed
the government in Punjab in 2022, might well have won in 2017, had it not been
for Capt Amarinder’s leadership. The AAP may not have claimed the landslide
victory in 2022 either, had the Congress fought the elections under Capt
Amarinder’s leadership. The BJP does not have the same grass roots strength and
support as the Congress in Punjab. The BJP is yet to make significant inroads
into the coun tryside across Punjab. At the same time, it does not face the
same hostility it faced in 2022 mainly due to the three Central farm laws. The BJP this time has an advantage that it has not been tried so far exclu sively by the Punjabis. It has another advantage that the
party is in power at the Centre. There is a feeling among people that the same
party’s government at the Centre and the state might be beneficial for the
state. Punjab badly needs Central aid and assistance. Will Capt Amarinder be
able to deliv to deliver with the Congress? It is indeed a challenging task, as
challenging as the 2014 Amritsar parliamentary election. But he does retain
some advantages indeed. After the 2022 elections, both Capt Amarinder and
veteran Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal practically with drew from active
politics. Both the lead ers remained active till 2022, although Badal had
partially withdrawn from much of the political activity. After 2022, there has
been a complete “leadership vacuum” in Punjab. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had
no experience as compared to Capt Amarinder or Badal. In the Congress, Sunil
Jakhar remained alienated and he eventually joined the BJP. Charanjit Singh
Channi, Partap Bajwa, Sukhbir Badal lacked the per sona and charisma of Capt
Amarinder and Parkash Singh Badal. The “leadership” vacuum is still being felt in Punjab. Capt
Amarinder has the advantage that he has no challenger of the same stature he
enjoys. Plus backed up by a party like the BJP, he can defi nitely deliver some
aces for the party. Despite being in his early 80s, Capt Amarinder remains “as
active and agile as he always has been”, whether in his 60s or 70s. He has his
own “exclusive style” of working. He still enjoys his drink. He still loves his
food. He still does his gardening. He is still fond of reading and he continues
to write.Recently a senior journalist revealed how Capt Amarinder responded to
his story on a military topic, (Captain’s first love). He not only shared some
inputs but also gifted a copy of one of his military history books to the
journalist. That is quite characteristic of him to go into the minute details,
whether about military history or the political and election strategy.Those who know him closely, par ticularly his former colleagues in the Congress, are wary about his getting active in the BJP, not
only for his per sonal capability, but the charisma and appeal he enjoys among
all sections of people. Even when he was in the Congress, he was as popular
among the BJP supporters as the Congress cadres. And when it comes to the ‘panthic
credentials’, he has no rival either. When Operation Bluestar was carried out,
he resigned in protest as an MP and also from the Congress. This was when
Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. He was just 42 then and had dared to put
his political career at stake. Again in 2004, when the Supreme Court left
Punjab with no option but to construct the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal, he enacted
the famous Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004 in the Punjab assembly. He
risked his chief ministerial position. Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not
speak to him for about a year over this. But he was credited with saving Punjab
waters. Even in 2019 when the BJP govern ment at the Centre enacted
the three Central farm laws, he was the first to oppose these. Had it not been
for his support, the farmers would not have managed to reach Delhi borders,
thus forcing the government there to with draw these laws. And his
nationalistic credentials are too well known that he would take a stand in the
national interest even if it went contrary to his own party’s (then Congress)
stand. In Capt Amarinder, the BJP has an ace of trumps up its sleeve. That is
why the political parties in Punjab have already grown curious, as he has
resumed his political innings. Once on the ground, he knows how to play it to
the finish. That is the importance of being Capt Amarinder and that his former
colleagues and today’s rivals are well aware of