By Raju William

For the Congress Punjab seems to be where it was when Captain Amarinder led Congress charge failed to make second bid for power in 2012. Analyses berated it for giving power to Akali-BJP combine on a platter. Almost similar was the case in 2007 when it allowed Badal to snatch the mantle of Chief Minister from the veteran soldier. Its failure both times was of its own making. There is no convincing change in its script to victory in 2017.

Expectedly one looked forward to something excitingly new and doable to repair its battered credibility in the context of completely changed electoral ground reality with the arrival of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). By all accounts AAP is being acknowledged as a very serious third contender in Punjab this time. Notwithstanding the public posturing of Congress and incumbent SAD-BJP, already Kejriwal has become a fearsome opponent. A little more than three weeks to the poll date, Congress is yet to announce all its candidates. As in past, rebellion within refuses to subside.  

In comes then Congress manifesto on January 9.  At best, it is an instrument so laboriously constructed to make the party look different among the messy bids to power by all the stake holders. Releasing it in the national capital by the renowned economist and former PM Manmohan Singh is a weak attempt to lend seriousness to content of the manifesto. The party seems to have glossed over the core issue of credibility, a crucial factor when the electoral contest is not the direct one.

If garnering media space is the rationale behind it, sadly then the Congress strategists are way off the mark. They ought to have learnt lessons from the party’s unforgettable debacle in 2015 Delhi polls at the hands of the same Kejriwal and his party of political greenhorns they detest to see as their main rival in Punjab. The Congress, and for that matter SAD too, is banking too heavily on the traditional poll stuff of manifestoes and positioning in the traditional media for the reasons justified or unjustified. 

Officially it has been put across like this: “World renowned economist and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday launched the Punjab Congress manifesto for the coming assembly elections with the confidence that the party, under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh, will undo the damage wreaked on the state by the Badal government”.

Let’s not forget that economist-PM Manmohan Singh is still around since the credibility of the Congress nose-dived post 2014 general elections. And there has been no noticeable electoral upswing since then. It is difficult to understand how ‘charisma’ of Dr Singh could be helpful in lifting the party in Punjab. The same applies to leadership charisma of Captain Amarinder Singh after two consecutive failed bids to power under his leadership. His Amritsar Lok Sabha poll victory is an exception.

As observed above, it is the credibility of what any leader or party says that matters in prevailing conditions in Punjab which, for the first time, is witnessing a serious triangular battle for ballot. We have not got to see the Congress having launched any direct and intense contact with masses like AAP. It is being felt that use of traditional electoral tools alone is not going to work this time. Whatever lofty content of a manifesto may be, minus credibility it is a bunch of papers. People are fed up with this.

Not long back, Captain Amarinder was blamed for taking different line on his party’s demand for a CBI probe into a drugs case. He was accused of being soft on Bikram Majithia and seen on the same page with ace rivals Badals. It was widely reported in the media. His detractors during Partap Bajwa’s tenure as the state Congress unit chief decried his stand. And a fierce factional feud ensued much to the delight of Akali, BJP rivals. Shall we believe people have forgotten this? Had this been the case, AAP would not have been vastly welcomed especially in the rural Punjab. Now the Congress has promised “war against drugs” in its manifesto. Will people believe? Let’s leave it to them.

The manifesto talks about tremendous potential of Punjab which remained unexploited in the last decade due to ‘misgovernance’ of Badals. Besides corruption-free good governance, it promises sweeping legislative, police reforms, revival of industry, agriculture, infrastructure, employment generation, better healthcare and fiscal management and what not. Captain Amarinder followed this up by reiterating that their manifesto was sacrosanct and would be executed in totality. What made him say this? Saying so, he seems to be in agreement with general perception that manifestoes are not taken seriously by the people. The reason: lack of credibility on part of the political parties and their leaders.

Dr.Singh has expressed confidence that Punjab is in for a better time under Captain Amarinder’s leadership. What inspires Dr Singh? One wonders why, despite all the good intentions and governance model during his tenure as the Chief Minister, the people did not vote so overwhelmingly as to deny Akali-BJP coming to power in Punjab for the last decade? If it was not due to any shortcoming on part of Captain Amarinder then what could be the gain this time by having stamp of Dr Manmohan Singh, who is saddled with infamous distinction of presiding over Congress’ historic electoral slump in 2014.

Getting Dr Singh to release the manifesto, the Congress seems to have offered a counter to increasing communal posturing by the Akalis. And secondly, if it hopes that Dr Singh, the economist, would send a positive message to people of Punjab about the state’s economic revival, it is not likely to work that way. It is yet early to expect that people have forgotten misrule under Congress led UPA Government. Its credibility took a huge knock at the hustings and paved way for the emergence of Modi and Kejriwal on the national and regional political landscape. 

Nothing worthwhile has changed since then. In popular perception, the rise of AAP in Punjab has much to do with the loss of the Congress' credibility. At stake again is its credibility, no matter how attractive its manifesto may look.