Popularity of Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh has taken a major hit

The Congress party is witnessing a rapid decline across the country since 2014 under the inept leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Punjab is the only state which has given the Congress party some hope post its debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2017 assembly elections held in Punjab, the Congress party won 77 out of a total of 117 assembly seats. AAP came second with 20 seats while the ruling SAD-BJP alliance slipped to the third spot with 15 seats. However, the credit for the victory went largely to Congress CM candidate, Captain Amarinder Singh.

Captain Amarinder Singh secured victory for Congress in Punjab on his own and also crushed AAP’s dream to sweep the state. The entire campaign of Congress in Punjab was created around Captain Amarinder Singh and Rahul Gandhi’s name was almost absent during the campaign process. Catchy slogans and campaigns were launched such as ‘Punjab da Captain’, ‘Coffee with Captain’, ‘Halke Vich Captain’, ‘Har Ghar Captain’ etc. His approval ratings among all sections of the society rose to a great extent, owing to the campaign he became a favorite of the youth, women and farmers from Punjab. However, the equation seems to have changed rapidly within the span of a year, as is evident by the results of the recent survey conducted by Political Stock Exchange (PSE). The PSE survey reveals a considerable decline in the approval ratings of Amarinder Singh. His declining ratings have raised red flags for the Congress ahead of the 2019 general elections. As of now, Punjab is the only state where Congress can claim to be in a strong position, the only territory where it can probably outsmart the NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

About 45 percent of the respondents have expressed their dissatisfaction with the incumbent CM. Currently Punjab is plagued by many problems such as that of unemployment, lack of sanitation, drug menace, price rise, agriculture-related issues and all this coupled with a minuscule increase in activities of the separatist forces in the state are a bad sign for Congress. The farmers too are not at all happy with the incumbent government and the unfortunate Amritsar tragedy is only going to add to the dissatisfaction amongst people against CM Amarinder Singh. The state government’s conduct after the tragedy has been marred with controversies. The questionable conduct of Congress Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife during the tragedy, coupled with CM Amarinder’s decision to make a detailed socio-economic profiling of the victims, the objectives of which are still obscure, will only further exacerbate the approval ratings of CM Amarinder.

At a time like this, socio-economic profiling of the victims is just a waste of time and money. Why is the socio-economic profiling of victims even necessary? All victims of the Amritsar train tragedy and their families should be provided with sufficient compensation without any delay and without any discrimination. His approval ratings are sure to take a major hit if he decides to discriminate between the victims after the socio-economic profiling is done. A proper inquiry should be conducted as promised and the culprits must be strictly punished. Anything less than that would be unacceptable and would lead to the debacle of the Congress in the state. People will neither forget nor forgive any laxity in providing relief and any attempt to shield those who are responsible for the massacre of 60 innocent lives will have to face the wrath of the public. These moments are the real test for Captain Amarinder and Congress in Punjab. The state government with all honesty and sincerity should punish the culprits even if the accused enjoy large political clout. Ensuring justice in the Amritsar tragedy is a must as the decisions taken by him on this matter will either make or break the party in the state.