Crisis and the Congress have become synonymous for a while now. From losing elected state governments to its principal political rival — Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka were pocketed by the Bharatiya Janata Party — to its failure to stop leaders from crossing over to the saffron camp — Jyotiraditya Scindia and, in more recent times, Jitin Prasada are prime examples — India’s Grand Old Party has been lurching from one crisis to another ever since it received — twice — resounding electoral rejections from the people in general elections. The Congress’s growing distance from power in New Delhi seems to have deepened the fault lines within its rank and file, so much so that the party now finds itself on a sticky wicket even in election-bound states where, the word is, it could retain power. Punjab is a case in point here. The farmers’ agitation against the three controversial laws passed by the Centre has had a palpable impact in this state, dimming the BJP’s prospects considerably in 2022. The Shiromani Akali Dal, a former ally of the National Democratic Alliance, is expected to bear the brunt of the collateral damage. The public disenchantment with these two outfits should have, in theory, energized the Congress to seek a second term. Except that discord and petty aspirations, the Congress’s perennial Achilles’ heel, seem to have put Amarinder Singh’s government in a spot. Mr Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu are not exactly ideal colleagues; discontent has also been brewing on account of the Congress’s organizational deficiencies, gaps between poll promises and their execution as well as legal setbacks in crucial cases.

All this points to a party in a muddle in spite of its present dominance in the legislature. The blame for the state of affairs must go equally to a fractious state unit as well as an inert — weakened — high command. The absence of a full-time, engaged party president — is Rahul Gandhi even interested in the post? — has encouraged mischief-mongering. The signals emanating from Punjab can have a dispiriting effect on the Congress’s morale in other states where the party is in a position to challenge the BJP. The Congress’s chief problem is that it is beset — besotted? — with ambitious, armchair politicians who are yet to emerge as public leaders. A revival is unlikely unless influential members learn to choose the party over the perks of power.