The Captain’s time was up, but this was not the way to make him leave. This seems to be the mood in Patiala, the constituency of Captain Amarinder Singh and the erstwhile Maharaja’s backyard.
A sense of gloom prevails at the New Moti Bagh Palace, Captain’s royal residence. A road going towards the Palace, which for long was closed due to a stream of protests held by various unions, is now open as Captain is no longer CM and the protestors are leaving. At Patiala’s famous lassi shops, the discussion is that Captain had it coming. An odd hoarding in the city still features Captain and his wife Preneet Kaur with a slogan ‘Captain for 2022’ but Charanjit Singh Channi’s hoardings now dominate the city’s main Fuvvara Chowk, signalling the change of guard in Punjab.
He Never Met Us
A couple waiting at the gate of the New Moti Bagh Palace on Thursday is disappointed to know that Preneet Kaur is not in town. The former CM is the Patiala MLA but it was his wife who held fort here. “The Chief Minister never met anyone and one could not get into his Siswan farmhouse, but his wife met people here. We had once earlier met her and she had promised us help. We were here to meet her again but we are told she won’t be back for another week,” Param Singh, accompanied by his wife, said.
At the famous Gopal and Patiala Shahi lassi shops of the city, the refrain is the same — of Captain’s inaccessibility. “Look at Patiala yourself. The entire city is dug up and is a mess. You go to Bathinda and see how the Akalis have maintained their backyard. The fact is that Captain’s time was up. He was totally disconnected with the people. But he should not have been humiliated like this. His humiliation is hurting the Jat Sikhs,” says Shamsher Singh, sipping on a glass of lassi at Patiala Shahi.
Protestors Depart
The sense of hurt in Patiala over the Captain treatment, however, seems to be compensated with a sense of relief as locals are getting respite from traffic jams caused by a series of protests near the new Moti Bagh Palace. “Today is the first time in about two years that I could take the road from YPS Chowk as the same was blocked by the police due to protestors,” Bhupinder Singh, a local shopkeeper says.
A major protest is still on near Fuvvara Chowk but the union here says it will also leave in the next two days as the CM has changed.
“We will move with our tractors to Morinda or Chamkaur Sahib from September 25 as new CM Charanjit Channi belongs from there. For us, only the CM face has changed, not the policies of this government,” says Varinder Singh Soni, leading the protest here for all temporary employees of the state government who want to be regularised.
Soni says Captain failed to open any communication channel with the unions and striking employees used to be greeted with water-cannons and lathi-charge at Captain’s Siswan farmhouse. “Captain had to go, surely,” Soni says.
Sympathy for Captain?
Old-timers in Patiala who have for long voted for Captain say he would get some sympathy and will win easily again from Patiala, whichever party he fights from, or even if he chooses to contest as Independent.
Captain first became an MLA from Patiala in 2002 and has continued since with a three-year-break when his wife held the seat from 2014 to 2017. “We have always voted for Captain in the last two decades. CM or no CM, this was not the way to make him leave with utter humiliation. He is the pride of Patiala,” says 78-year-old Satnam Singh who runs a shop in Patiala’s famous AC Market.
Many others wonder why Captain did not take the hint.
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