Political parties have a strange life cycle. For decades organisational structures can remain entrenched, and then suddenly everything cra...
Political parties have a strange life cycle. For decades organisational structures can remain
entrenched, and then suddenly everything crashes. The Congress party in Punjab, which
barely weeks back was poised to win a second term in the upcoming legislative elections, now
faces challenges that are not just electoral but also existential.
From Captain Amarinder Singh’s forced resignation and replacement by the state’s first Dalit
Chief Minister in Charanjit Singh Channi to the resignation of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the
president of the state unit, the Punjab Congress finds itself in a precarious situation.
Though the outcome of this crisis will have consequences for the party beyond the borders of Punjab, its fortunes within the state have become a focus of intense scrutiny, more importantly, because Punjab remains the only state in North India where the Congress still dominates.
But what explains this apparent paradox? How did the Congress remain entrenched in Punjab with the highest vote-share consistently, while in its neighbouring states it continues to lose ground? This question is not just a banal historical inquiry. To fully understand what is going on in Punjab, one has to first understand the unique role that the party plays in the political system of the state.
The Congress System
The answer lies in the way Congress functions under the...
