Corridors of power: Mann’s 32 gospel, AAP’s ‘checkmate’ of Khuddian and privilege of being Capt Amarinder

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann often reminds audiences that he has all 32 teeth intact. In Punjabi folklore, a person blessed with the full set (including the four wisdom teeth) is believed to speak nothing but the truth. Whether folklore should be taken seriously is another matter. But political circles are suddenly paying attention.

Recently, Mann confidently predicted that Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu would not find his way to the Rajya Sabha through the BJP. The remark drew little attention at the time. But when events unfolded exactly as he had suggested, Bittu was dropped. Was it simply another case of the 32-tooth wisdom proving right?

Or did the Chief Minister know something that others did not? Both the AAP and BJP camps are said to be watching with interest. For now, Mann’s supporters have their own explanation: when the Chief Minister speaks, his 32 teeth do the talking too.

Gurmeet Khuddian’s dissent

Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian is learnt to have stirred up a storm recently when he questioned AAP leader Manish Sisodia over the distribution of municipal corporation tickets. In a party that prefers differences to remain behind closed doors, the conversation did not go unnoticed.

Soon after came an appointment that set political tongues wagging. Khuddian’s nephew, Randhir Singh alias Dhira Khuddian, was named chairman of the Punjab State Container and Warehousing Corporation. Before long, Dhira was appearing on television channels, invoking his grandfather’s legacy in Lambi, the constituency represented by his uncle.

Party insiders saw it as a reminder that in the AAP, the line between dissent and discipline can be a thin one. The optics were unmistakable. Lambi, as well as AAP circles, was being gently reminded that political legacies do not always travel in a straight line. Sometimes they branch out within the family itself.

Capt Amarinder Singh’s clout

Captain Amarinder Singh has never been known for mincing words. So when the former Punjab Chief Minister publicly questioned the BJP’s decision to appoint Kewal Dhillon as state president, party leaders sat up and took notice. Amarinder was unsparing. The criticism was direct and very public.

What followed surprised many in the Punjab BJP.

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Soon after, Amarinder secured a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. For leaders who spend months, and sometimes longer, waiting for an audience with the party’s top brass, the development raised more than a few eyebrows. The Captain had spoken out against the party’s choice. Yet he got a hearing.

That has triggered some quiet chatter within BJP circles. Was it the Captain’s stature? His candour? Or does speaking up work better than staying silent?

No one is asking these questions on record. But in political corridors, some leaders are wondering whether the shortest route to Delhi may not always be through obedience.

Can PSERC chief read his appointment letter?

When former Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta was appointed chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory

Commission (PSERC), the appointment left many AAP leaders seeing red. The selection of an outsider for a key Punjab post triggered murmurs within the party. Objections were raised, though mostly in hushed tones.

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Attention soon shifted to the advertisement that had enabled the appointment. Unlike earlier requirements that emphasised proficiency in Punjabi, this one merely required applicants to have a “working knowledge” of the language. The change did not go unnoticed in bureaucratic and political circles.

The debate might have ended there. Instead, it acquired a fresh twist when Gupta’s appointment letter was issued in Punjabi.

That prompted a technocrat to pose a question that quickly found an audience in the corridors of power: if a working knowledge of Punjabi is enough to secure the post, is it enough to read the appointment letter as well?