I’m not in the race for the CM’s post, there are 6-7 other capable leaders: Raja Warring

Chandigarh, June 23

Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, in an interview on the Decode Punjab show, spoke to The Tribune’s Jupinderjeet Singh and Rajmeet Singh about the state of affairs in the Punjab Congress and his plans for the party in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly polls. He also spoke about the possibility of his wife contesting the Gidderbaha byelection.

Excerpts from the interview:

Why do you have such a long name?

To be very honest, I don’t know, but I was quite young when my mother died. I was six. My uncle said, your mother really likes calling you Raja. I was the one who wanted my name as Amrinder Singh. I have never met my mother (as a grown-up), and was told about this by my maternal uncle, and that’s why it is Amrinder Sigh Raja Warring.

You won the Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana and the losing politician, Ravneet Singh Bittu, has become a Union Minister. How do you feel about it?

To be very honest, if you talk about a democracy, like the way Bittu has become a minister, that’s a totally untenable. What is the need for contesting the election if one believes in defections. When somebody whom you have defeated becomes a minister in this democratic setup, you feel upset. When somebody has lost an election, it means the mandate is not with him. The public feels bad when a losing candidate becomes a minister. Otherwise, I have conveyed my best wishes to Bittu.

The Congress lost the 2022 Assembly elections because of infighting. It is said the Congress’ biggest enemy is the Congress itself. Do you see the same happening in run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections?

Yes, you have made a relevant observation. To be very honest, in 2022… everybody knows what happened. That’s why all the way we have come to 18 seats. But now in this Parliament election and from last two-and-a-half years being the PCC president, I tried to maintain the decorum and tried to involve everybody in the PCC. We will not repeat the mistake of 2022 in 2027.

How do you ensure that it doesn’t happen again? You are in the chair…

It’s a difficult to ensure that no one speaks against the party or somebody will not raise any issue on any platform that could embarrass the party. But I will go to each and everyone’s house. I feel that certain people have ego and others feel that Warring is a young boy not listening to them and going to them. But I will try my best that all are taken into confidence and all decisions are taken collectively, after listening to all.

So you will approach them?

Not only approach them, but keep on going to them for sorting out the issues. Some senior leaders say something about me even on media platforms. But I have no issues. After all, they are seniors. I have already stated that I am not interested in chief ministership. There are another six to seven eligible people. I do not mind them becoming the chief minister. It is my job to take along everyone and coordinate, and I am confident of doing it.

There are too many CM aspirants in Punjab Congress. So how will you ensure that the right thing happens and the top leaders don’t start fighting ahead of the election, as it happened in last Assembly election?

If somebody feels that one day he will become the chief minister, I don’t think there is anything bad in aspiring. Not only in our party, there are many aspirants for the CM post in other parties. Everybody wants to become an MLA. Everybody wants to become a minister. But, somehow, you have to adhere to the party line. Anybody can become the chief minister, who the party feels is a capable guy. Like Charanjit Channi became the chief minister. Nobody was with him. But after he was made the chief minister, everybody accepted it. There is nothing bad in aspiring to be CM. But one has to abide by the party line.

The Congress has always been divided. What is this? Is this a flaw in the party culture?

It is not a divided house. It is internal democracy in the party. Our party is the only party where a person can raise his voice like anything. Otherwise in AAP, BJP or Akali Dal, no one raise voice like this. This is the beauty of the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge give us this right to speak whatever you have in your mind about party or leadership. Even in the government, sometimes I was the one who in Vidhan Sabha sometimes spoke against the government and sought extension of the Vidhan Sabha sessions.

Do you miss Navjot Singh Sidhu? He is missing from action. And he was accused of dividing the party and being responsible for the last Assembly poll outcome. Will you approach him also?

I don’t want to say anything about Navjot Singh Sidhu. I don’t know what happened, but what happened should not have happened. Otherwise, he is a good leader and a good man. I will definitely approach him. I don’t mind approaching anybody. To be very honest, seniors say that there is no place for anger in political life. Warring can go to anyone, even those who are strongly opposed to me. I don’t mind doing all this.

Your critics say that you should go to parliament and national politics and let other people take responsibility of state politics. What do you say to that?

It is for the party to decide. If Rahul Gandhi or the party president feels that I have to go to national politics and somebody will replace me, I don’t mind. I am a party man. From block president to a Member of Parliament without any political background, I have risen through the ranks. What else will the party give me? There are so many things in my mind or in my heart, I will tell everything to Rahul Gandhi and the party president. After that, it is their decision. My leaving the PPCC president’s post does not depend on what people think. After all, that has to be decided by the party. If the party feels it appropriate, there is no problem. I am loyal to the Congress and loyal to Rahul Gandhi. If the top leadership says no more posts and no more elections for Warring, I will accept it

But if Rahul Gandhi says that I have to take responsibility of Punjab, I will accept it. As I was told by Sonia Gandhi to fight from Ludhiana, I just said I will talk to Rahul Gandhi and decide. There is nothing more than that. After God, I have full faith in Rahul Gandhi.

Now your wife Amrita Warring is also planning to contest?

We have not said anywhere that she would be contesting. There were media reports that my wife was planning to contest for Bathinda parliamentary seat and now everyone is saying that she will contest from Gidderbaha. We are not the one to decide. It is the party that decides. If the party says my wife will contest, she will contest, and if the party says no, we will still accept it.

Do you think fielding your wife will promote dynasty politics?

No, I don’t think so. I think she is more capable than me. There are survey reports and people saying that she was a better candidate than me for Bathinda. I do not promote my wife as part of dynasty politics. Being my wife should not become a disadvantage for her. If she is capable, she has the right. But it is for the party to decide on the candidature.

Some senior leaders in Congress are pointing fingers at you over the poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the Malwa region…

Very interesting question. Going by facts, we performed well in Malwa by getting four seats — Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Ferozepur and Ludhiana. We lost by a thin margin in Anandpur Sahib, half of which falls in Malwa. We got two seats from Majha, and one from Doaba. We got 7 seats. It is wrong to say that we did not perform well. Even other parties are saying that we performed well. I think it is time to celebrate. Yes, there are certain shortcomings that need to be handled. I do not say that I am a master. I am a student, I am open to taking corrective measures.

It is being said that by fielding Jeet Mohinder Sidhu from Bathinda, the party helped the Akalis in getting the seat for Harsimrat Kaur Badal?

No, It is totally wrong. You tell me who could be next possible candidate if not Jeet Mohinder Sidhu?

People are saying that my wife Amrita Warring could have been the best candidate. If the party had said that she would contest the election, I was ready. But it is the party’s decision that my wife would not contest the election from Bathinda. In such a situation, the next best candidate was Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, a four-time MLA.

Was it wrong choice of candidates on the seats the party lost? Was the right feedback with the party?

It is the wrong feedback. Sometimes the party sees so many things. There are leaders who claim that they could have won the Anandpur Sahib seat. The party has also to see other things like who is working for the party. If you talk about Sangrur, the party gave the ticket to Sukhpal Khaira on the basis of the people’s demand. Otherwise, Vijay Inder Singla is the leader from Sangrur. Singla is doing good work for the party from so many years and the party had to adjust him somewhere else. If Khaira was not given the ticket from Sangrur, people would have said that is something fishy between AAP and Raja Warring. If my wife contested from Bathinda, people would have said that the PPCC chief is only for his wife So, it is both ways.

Party leaders are questioning the dip in vote percentage compared to the 2019 parliament polls…

Yes, some leaders are talking about vote percentage. How can you compare that vote percentage to 2019? Why you are not comparing vote percentage to 2022?

The issues are different every time the state goes to the polls. Then, also compare the Jalandhar and Sangrur parliamentary bypolls. Vote share of BJP was very much less than this time, but no seats this time. It is not fixed that any person will hold specific vote share. Within days, vote share fluctuates. Like in Sangrur parliamentary seat byelection, AAP vote dipped within a matter of a few days and Simranjeet Singh Mann won by a huge margin. It all depends upon candidate to candidate, how the campaign is conducted and who is the face… Despite facing BJP-led government at the Centre and AAP in the state, we won seven seats and that too without money and muscle power and it is sheer teamwork. Not only me, the credit goes to all my party colleagues

You said something is going on in AAP. What exactly is happening? Former CM and Jalandhar MP Chanarnjit Channi while speaking in Decode Punjab had said BJP can topple Bhagwant Mann government any time. Do you see it happening?

I don’t know what is going on exactly, but something serious is going on. Is the BJP doing it or someone within AAP doing it, I cannot predict. Anything can happen anytime. To be honest, some people are upset.

But one should be very honest in predicting something. I think one should speak the truth. Like, when some people asked me how many seat we would get in the parliament elections, I said Congress will get the largest seats and our vote share would be the highest. And it happened. Some people say we will get 13 out of 13 seats and other say we will rule for 25 years and when it does not happen, people stop believing you.

What is the roadmap for Congress now? What is your plan for Punjab?

I think we need to strengthen the party, especially where we have lost in the recently held parliament elections. Not only political persons thinking out of the box, we need to look for good and clean candidates in the constituencies where we do not have suitable candidates, we have to look for good candidates. Like Yamini Gomar, who contested unsuccessfully from the Hoshiarpur parliament seat. People say she was the wrong choice. She is a simple girl who gave a good fight and lost by just 40,000 votes. We need to strengthen the party, block level to up to the mandal level and then district level. Most significantly, we have senior leaders whose viewpoints and concerns can be put on party platform so that they feel comfortable.

On the issue of drug menace, there is quite a storm going on in Punjab. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently transferred 10,000 police personnel over their alleged nexus in drug smuggling. And then DGP Gaurav Yadav comes to our show and says that no one can cast aspersions on “my police”. Who do you think is speaking the truth?

I don’t know. You must ask both of them that who is right or who is wrong. But being the chief minister and being the home minister of the state, he should not say that “my police is involved in drugs”. What are you doing for last two and a half years if could not find out those involved in the drug trade? I think this is frustration of the CM after AAP’s dismal performance in the parliament polls. People are questioning him as he had predicted that AAP would get all the 13 seats. The AAP got only three seats. He is being told that the employee and policemen have favoured the Congress instead of AAP in the parliament polls. That is reason the AAP government is targeting the cops.

I totally agree with the DGP. They are the people who were in the police station for the last 20-30 years. If you want to reshuffle them, I should suggest to police that there should be some logic in the reshuffle. Those who are nearing their retirement should be sent to nearby police stations. But at this stage, I think there is something else rather than saying that they are involved in drugs. They are being targeted for not voting for AAP. Reshuffling 10,000 cops means that the entire police is involved in drugs. It would bring down the morale of the police force. Yes, some can be involved. But the entire police force cannot be labelled.

Is someone from the AAP government involved?

No, I don’t say this. Because to be very honest, it is very easy to say that somebody is involved in drugs and corruption. In today’s context, any politician cannot afford to get involved in drugs. Be it from any party. It’s just blame game.

Politicians don’t want to do anything. All the successive government have claimed that they will finish the drug menace, quickly. Some people swear by the holy book of Sikhs and Bhagwnat Mann would offer ardas at Golden Temple. But no one wants to discuss the issue at all. You will have to find an alternative. Without an alternative, you will not finish the drug business. Reason being, there is too much unemployment. Catching those who supply drugs will not solve the problem. People are saying the drug menace has increased manifold in Punjab, 14 deaths in 14 days due to drug abuse is a matter of concern.

I suggest to the chief minister to call an all-party meeting, and after that he should call a Vidhan Sabha session to discuss the burning issue exclusively for at least 10 days to find out a solution. AAP has been in power for over two years, blame cannot be shifted to previous governments. Now, it is time to perform and no more jokes, jibes and stage performances would do the trick.