Senior Congress leader and former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said the electoral arithmetic of Punjab leans heavily in favour of the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly polls, which are due early next year. “The people of Punjab will give a repeat mandate in favour of the Congress. Ensuring peace, harmony and stability in a turbulent State has been the most important achievement of the Congress government,” said Mr. Kumar.
“The SAD and the BJP are discredited and AAP has still to establish its credentials as an all Punjab party,” he said. The challenge before the Congress is to ensure internal unity, he said. He added, “Initiatives of the CM and the State leaders in reaching out to dissatisfied party leaders are likely to bear fruit.”
Mr. Kumar said, “The country is divided into two political poles – one represented by the BJP and the other by the Opposition, comprising the Congress and regional parties... The Congress has both the duty and an opportunity to unify the Opposition.” On party leadership, he said, “It is for Mr. Rahul Gandhi to decide, if he chooses not to take on the responsibility, even then the party will be able to throw a credible leadership.”
