Long in the doghouse after his party’s defeat in the 2007 Assembly elections, Captain Amarinder Singh is firmly on the path of rehabilitation with a majority of Congress tickets from Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections going to his loyalists.

Amarinder, who was denied the post of state party chief as well as that of the Leader of Opposition after the elections, has been battling a series of problems, with the Shiromani Akali Dal (B)-BJP coalition Government slapping cases on him and ensuring that he was expelled from the Assembly following the recommendations of a privileges committee.

However, with new state Congress chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal failing to pull the party out of the morass for the past two years, the high command has again turned to Amarinder. Perhaps realising the way the wind is blowing, Bhattal has kept uncharasterically quiet at the development.

With the current Congress tally at a lowly two of the 13 seats in the state, the party is only expected to improve. And Amarinder looks set to reap the benefits.

The first signs of the party reposing faith in the Captain was when he was made in-charge of the campaign for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in the state, bypassing Kaypee as well as Bhattal. Now, the final list of party candidates from Punjab has his imprint all over. Not only have tickets been allocated to his wife Preneet Kaur, a sitting MP, and son Raninder Singh, who is a first-time entrant to politics, the high command has also gone by his recommendations on most of the seats.

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