When the Congress high command effected a change of guard to give Punjab its first Scheduled Caste chief minister in Charanjit Singh Channi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s stamp was unmistakable.
The cabinet expansion undertaken by the new chief minister is no different. Rahul’s signature is instantly recognisable in the induction of the six new faces into the council of ministers even though it comes with just six months to go for the state elections. The induction of Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Randeep Singh Nabha, Pargat Singh and Raj Kumar Verka in Channi’s team with Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress president is being seen as a move towards generational shift in the party - the former Congress chief’s favourite mantra.
The names of the six new entrants – four of whom have direct access to Rahul – after Channi’s flying visits to Delhi for back-to-back meetings with the former Congress chief, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other central leaders. All of them, except Gilzian, are below 60 and their entry is expected to bring fresh energy into the party left divided by a bitter tussle between Capt Amarinder and Sidhu.
“He (Rahul) likes to make his moves and backed Sunil Jakhar for the chief minister’s post. When his bold move faced opposition from a section of the party, he pushed Channi. The induction is his way of bringing change,” says a Rahul admirer. However, several party leaders also see Sidhu’s hand behind these changes as he was pushing four of the six fresh inductees were critics of his bête noire Capt Amarinder Singh. Besides Pargat who is his close confidant, Warring, Gilzian and Kotli had sided with him.
{{/usCountry}}“He (Rahul) likes to make his moves and backed Sunil Jakhar for the chief minister’s post. When his bold move faced opposition from a section of the party, he pushed Channi. The induction is his way of bringing change,” says a Rahul admirer. However, several party leaders also see Sidhu’s hand behind these changes as he was pushing four of the six fresh inductees were critics of his bête noire Capt Amarinder Singh. Besides Pargat who is his close confidant, Warring, Gilzian and Kotli had sided with him.
{{/usCountry}}“Sidhu has had his say, but not much as he would have liked. The high command has done some tightrope walking and retained several ministers who were close to Amarinder in an attempt to keep its flock together,” said a senior party leader who did not want to be named. The caste and regional were other factors at play in the induction of new ministers. Of the six fresh faces, four – Warring, Nabha, Pargat and Kotli are Jat Sikhs whereas Verka is a Valmiki and Gilzian is from the other backward classes (OBCs). There was no OBC minister in the Amarinder Singh cabinet and Gilzian’s induction has filled the gap. The new cabinet has 9 ministers are from Malwa, six from Majha and three from Doaba.