The people of Punjab may have the resignation of their captain as a weekend special as the Congress party has been reeling towards an incessant political crisis in Punjab that has now triggered strong speculation that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is going to step down from the post on Saturday and that he has decided to quit the party. As the crisis deepens in Punjab, the Congress party is in a state of critical to fix the tussle to revive the party for the upcoming assembly polls. However, the party's leadership is still yet to address the matter with Priyanka Gandhi is seen holidaying in Shimla.

The resignation from Amarinder Singh could cause a major debacle for the Congress party at a high time when it has to bolster its preparations for the upcoming polls in the states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and if the Gandhi & Co stay off completely in addressing such intra-party crises, the country would thank them for creating a much wider base for BJP. The weakening state of unity in Congress has apparently shown the flaws that the leadership should address before coming to the room of uniting the opposition under one roof to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Recently, senior leaders of Congress had slammed the BJP that the Central ruling party is busy replacing 'non-performing' Chief Ministers after the then Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has resigned. However, the Congress party has seemingly decided to echo the BJP's mind of changing the guard in Punjab. The political crisis was escalated when Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had tussled with former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu over the latter's appointment as the Punjab Congress Chief. With the backing of the Gandhis, Sidhu won the post, which widened the drift in the state. 

The political climate in Punjab has been stormy for the past few months and now, it has got advanced as a cyclone with Amarinder Singh's decision of quitting the party ahead of the crucial polls. According to reports, Amarinder Singh was asked to quit by the Congress leadership, which has been under pressure from the Punjab MLAs who demanded to copy-paste what BJP has done in Gujarat - changing the guard ahead of the polls. With the growing demand, Congress has on Friday announced a meeting with its MLAs that will be held on Saturday at 5 pm without informing Amarinder Singh.

It has been reported that Amarinder Singh will most likely tender his resignation as Chief Minister before the meeting and quit from the party and he had reportedly informed his decision to Sonia Gandhi that he can't continue in the party with this kind of humiliation. The reports say that over 50 to 80 Congress MLAs in Punjab had written to Sonia Gandhi demanding to replace Amarinder Singh with a new Chief Minister, ahead of the polls. As the group, akin to G23, had stirred tension within the party, it has called the meeting with the MLAs to decide further move. 

So far, Amarinder Singh, also called as Captain, has refused to step down and he also called a meeting of MLAs who support him to gather his loyalists in his bid to display his power. It has been reported that anything may happen in the MLA meeting on Saturday evening and if the tussle continues, the Governor will likely recommend the President's rule in the state under the grounds of political instability and incessant protests by the peasants against the three contentious farm laws. 

Throwing more weight to the speculations that Amarinder Singh will resign, his son has tweeted that his father will submit his resignation to Punjab Governor, torching a fresh revolt within the party. There has been a list of three probable leaders to replace Amarinder Singh in consideration - Beant Singh's grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu, former Punjab Congress chiefs Sunil Jakhar, and Pratap Singh Bajwa. It must be noted that last month, four ministers and around two dozen MLAs had raised complaints against Amarinder Singh and told the leadership that they had no faith in his ability to honour poll promises. 

Happy Holidays, Priyanka Gandhi: 

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Punjab, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen holidaying in Shimla on Saturday. She was seen cooling her heels at her bungalow at Chharabra and the media reports had confirmed that she will be spending the next four to five days in Shimla and the party has said that no party worker is allowed to come and meet her during her stay in Shimla.