New Delhi: With Assembly elections just round the corner, the Congress party seems caught between the devil and the deep sea in Punjab.
The problem seems to be the shenanigans, tantrums, and calculated sulk displayed by the President of the state unit Navjot Singh Sidhu. A CVoter survey conducted across Punjab found that Sidhu is rapidly losing both popularity and sympathy across the board in the state.
Even Congress supporters in the survey seemed miffed with Sidhu and his verbal missiles.
The survey asked Punjab voters: Who according to you is the better leader between the two: Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu? The answers would shock the Congress top brass in Delhi which has consistently backed Sidhu even as he has loudly proclaimed his loyalty to the High Command while criticising various moves and decisions of his own party.
Coming back to the question, more than 35 per cent of Congress supporters in Punjab find the Captain a better leader, more than the 32 per cent plus who seem to prefer Sidhu. A little more than 32 per cent of Congress supporters think neither is a good leader. If you take the overall tally of all respondents, 37.1 per cent say they think the Captain is better while 26.7 per cent say Sidhu is better. As many as 36.2 per cent say neither is good. Between current Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu, the highest 39.4 per cent say neither is better.
The problem becomes even more stark when answers to the following question are examined: In the internal fighting in the Congress, how much do you blame Sidhu? More than 57 per cent of Congress supporters say Sidhu is either entirely to blame or to a large extent. A slightly higher percentage among all respondents has the same response.
(IANS)
