Own goal in Punjab

Another example of mismanagement by the grand old party

The Congress party appears to have developed a talent for shooting itself in the foot, and the latest leadership crisis in Punjab offers a fresh example. This was a state in which the next elections, due February/March 2022, appeared to be a done deal, not least because of the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal’s earlier close association with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had passed unpopular agri-reform Bills in Parliament. What is more, recently deposed chief minister Amarinder Singh had delivered for the party a brute majority in the Assembly of 80 seats out of 117; the party has, in