BackWe have a challenge in AAP: Congress’s Amarinder Singh
AAP will be a bigger challenge than the ruling SAD-BJP alliance under chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, says chief of Congress party's Punjab unit
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Amarinder Singh took charge of the Punjab state Congress unit last month. His appointment comes at a time when political parties are warming up for the assembly elections scheduled next year. Singh will be the face of the Congress party in the state where it will fight against the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) combine and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to Singh, AAP will be a bigger challenge than the ruling alliance under chief minister Prakash Singh Badal.
In an interview, he also commented about a possible alliance in the state and his earlier criticism of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Edited excerpts:
Punjab and adjoining areas have recently seen a spurt in terrorist attacks from across the border; Pathankot being the most recent one. What is your reading of the situation?
This has nothing to do with Punjab as a state. Of course, they have to be more cautious. This is the establishment in Pakistan which is anti-peace with India and they are doing this sort of thing. When Vajpayeeji went there, after that they were sitting in Kargil heights. Now, when Modiji went there, it does not suit some people because there is a vested interest in the (Pakistan) Army.
It was done in an amateurish way. Otherwise, what was the need to hijack a car; one could walk in and it would take 48 hours. The hijack alerted the air force, army and Punjab Police. Everyone was on alert. Had this not happened, god knows how much damage they would have done in Pathankot.
Do you think Punjab is at the risk of seeing a revival in militancy?
Not at all. See, till today we are still suffering from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. We have not got any industry; industries are moving out, unemployment is going up. This is nothing to do with revival (of militancy). People want peace, people want jobs. A new generation has come up and they do not want any of this. There is no revival of militancy at all.
We are going to see elections soon in Punjab. What do you think will be the issues in the upcoming polls?
Our biggest problem is unemployment, which means you will have to bring in industries. Our existing industries have left—textile industries have gone to Ahmedabad and Madhya Pradesh, cycle industry is shutting. You walk down Govindgarh city, which was famous for its steel industry, you will see only one out of 100 chimneys emitting smoke. Nothing is working. Basically, this is creating unemployment.
And, no revenue to the state, today we are borrowing to exist. Our borrowing is around ₹ 125,000 crore for a tiny state like ours which is basically an agricultural state. Our growth is much less than the national growth. National growth is being pegged to 7.2% to 7.4% this year and we are about 5.7%. Why is it not happening? Because our agriculture is not remunerative. The secondary sector is virtually shut and the tertiary sector which we set up in our time, the Akalis closed them. You find Dell leaving, Infosys—all these companies which came to Punjab are leaving. You don’t give them power; why don’t you give them power? Out of the 14 power units, only two are operating and 12 are shut. You have to start from scratch. You have to compete with other states both on land prices and power. Our population is 2.9 crore, of which 70% are less than 40 years of age. They are the ones who cannot find a job.
The Congress in Punjab has been raising the issue of political corruption.
I think political corruption is being underemphasized, it is absolutely terrible state of affairs whether it is sand or construction. In Ludhiana, sand was selling higher than the price of atta (flour). That sort of scenario they (Badals) are creating. The liquor industry is in their hand, sand, transportation and cable industries are in their hands. It is particularly the Badal family which has five ministers and all of them have lucrative portfolios.
You have recently emerged from an acrimonious power struggle. How do you plan to focus on the challenges that lie ahead?
This is my 47th year in politics and I have been through all sorts of troubled times… this was a question of wanting a change in politics of Punjab. I don’t think we will have any opposition now because this is an election year and everyone is fighting an election. Everyone wants to contest elections and everyone is going to concentrate on that and not on internal differences.
As the chief of the party in the state, what do you think will be your key challenge?
Carry the party through in a united fashion. We have a challenge in AAP and we will deal with them. Akalis are no longer a challenge; they are completely over. After the Bargari incident, all fingers are pointing at Mr. Badal that he had done it. He has lost his critical support base which is the Sikhs; they are no longer supporting him.
Now, we have a new phenomenon which is the AAP. Look, they do not have a face in what is seen as a personality-based election; they do not have a policy. (Arvind) Kejriwal makes a statement here that it has been an year only and he will do more. He hasn’t fulfilled his basic promises of water and power. He says if he will complete 50% of his manifesto, it will be a big thing. Why? You are taking people’s vote after making a promise.
Do you think AAP is a bigger challenge for the Congress than the BJP-SAD combine?
Like I said, SAD does not exist at all. Last time, we lost by a difference of 0.8% votes. Now, they are further down. This new phenomenon which has come (AAP), we will have to deal with them because they are trying to work on the unemployed.
How will you make sure that the anti-Akali votes come to you rather than AAP?
You cannot do that. There are types and types of votes. The farmers’ vote we will pull, the traders, industry votes we will pull. A section of the unemployed vote will go the other way, but I think, by and large, the predominant section will hopefully come to us.
You were one of the most voluble critics of Rahul Gandhi until last year, but you have recently demanded that he be elevated to top Congress post soon. What has changed?
I was not voluble in his criticism which I have told Rahul myself. I told him that you have heard that I have said that you should go and see the whole of the country and let your mother continue. And, I said this because I don’t want to become prime minister and therefore whether I go to Tamil Nadu or Kerala, it really does not matter… but you will have to go to every part of the country; Delhi is nothing, it is not India. India is where people in tribal areas still eat berries and roots and you have to see that. I told him that is my intention of saying let your mother remain and you go and do this. He agreed with me.
Do you feel now is the right time for him to take over the mantle of the party chief?
Look, time and again, people talk of age. His father was younger than him when he became the prime minister… so, that does not matter. He is intelligent; experience he may not have, but he will have it. His father also was a general secretary in the party and he made a very good prime minister.
There are several active socio-spiritual organizations in Punjab. Dera Sachha Sauda is one of them. How will their presence impact this election? Will the Congress party approach their support?
We approach them (Deras) all the time. I don’t know about Sachha Sauda because it is limited to my area: southern Punjab. There are many other Deras and you are naming only one or two of them… everyone influences. For instance, you may have a Dera which influences election for a local candidate. That will happen and that happens in every election. Certainly in southern Punjab, Dera Sachha Sauda is pretty strong.
Ever since the general election last year, Congress has lost every state election where it was pitted against the BJP, apart from Bihar, where it had an alliance. What is it that the Congress will do differently in Punjab?
I have already said that we are open to alliances with secular forces. I said that for a reason because Akali and BJP fight together. We lost assembly election by 1% votes and we have to fill that gap. Hopefully, as I said Akalis have gone down. But now, it is not Akalis and BJP versus Congress, it is Akali-BJP, Congress and AAP. So we think we may need to have an alliance. Provided in an alliance you have to see that you will have to cover your own people and you can’t just hand over seats.
When you say secular forces, does that include parties like AAP?
No. Frankly speaking I haven’t understood AAP and I don’t think anyone has understood them. It is just a movement that formulated itself into a party…other than that, we have got CPI (Communist Part of India), CPM (Communist Party of India, Marxist), the Bahujan Samaj Party and Manpreet Badal. These are all forces we can talk to.
You are a veteran Congress leader. The party just completed 131 years. How do you see the party’s future and the challenges that it faces?
We have had defeats and that happens. Hopes of our people are so many and so much. The new generation is coming up and 10 years’ anti-incumbency does play a major role. Like it is playing a major role in Punjab for the Akalis, it played a major role for the Congress in India. That’s why we lost. But having said that it has been only one and a half years and we have started coming back. You may say that Bihar was because of Nitish and Lalu but what about wining Ratlam parliamentary election on our own, we have taken the entire Gujarat rural area on our own…I think we are coming back and I hope Punjab will be the first state that we will come back in.
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