“A slew of cases against Amarinder Singh then followed. He was booked for the infamous Ludhiana City Centre scam by the VB,” a loyalist said. Meanwhile, the Badals’ dispensation was slowing tightening the noose around his coterie as well. Amarinder’s Man Friday and media adviser, Bharat Inder Singh Chahal was booked for more than one offence, even as the former CM’s Cabinet colleague Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, also met a similar fate. Political observers say that the magnitude of the ongoing barrage of litigation that followed were unthinkable until about a decade ago.

In fact, the animosity between Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal began when Singh had been an Akali leader, but had differences with Badal . The flashpoint came when Amarinder Singh left the Akali Dal to joint the Congress in 1996 after he was denied a party ticket by Badal.

Predictably, Parkash Singh Badal dismisses the revenge theory. “Political vendetta is a pet word for the Congress. The allegations are false. It was a Congress MLA who raised the issue which led to his expulsion,” he said, underlining the rift in the Congress.

After Amarinder Singh lost the Assembly elections last year, he got more than he bargained for. While he may have expected the Badals to unleash a ‘vendetta’, he may not have expected the cold shoulder from his state Congress leaders.

The former CM found support limited to lip service by some, while others, including the Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Amarinder’s long-time bete noire, has made known her implicit approval of his dismissal. According to an expert, key to Amarinder’s survival was a resurgence in state politics where the former CM was slowly losing ground within his own party. It was a do-or-die situation for Amarinder who needed to stay relevant, he said. When Amarinder was crying foul over the vendetta drive against him and his men, came the necessary wherewithal he was looking for. The AICC announced his appointment as chairman of the Election Campaign Committee, cutting Bhattal to size.

... contd.