Chandigarh (Punjab): There is no shadow Cabinet system or provision for reservation in the posts of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in the country, but this trend has started in Punjab. Almost all the political parties contesting the Punjab Assembly elections have already announced the names of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister after coming to power, while there is no such provision in the Constitution. Narendra Modi was declared the face of Prime Minister in 2014 and for the post of Chief Minister informally in 2017, but for the first time, it is being done formally in Punjab.
In the current Punjab Assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party has got phone-polling for the face of the Chief Minister. According to the results as claimed by Party 21 lakhs people voted for it, of which 93 per cent voted in favour of Bhagwant Mann. Although the polling procedure was controversial, it was a new experience. Congress initially criticised the Aam Aadmi Party's process. But later, the Congress, too, succumbed to pressure over the Chief Minister's face. Now the Congress has also chosen the voting process to choose the Chief Minister's face. Whether, the face of the Chief Minister will be Charanjit Singh Channi or Navjot Singh Sidhu, the result of which is likely to come out on February 6. The decision of the Chief Minister on one of the two faces also made it clear that Congress had reserved the Chief Minister's post for the Sikh face as both Channi and Sidhu belong to the Sikh community.
Although, Congress has already decided that if the party comes to power, the Chief Minister will be the Sikh face following which a controversy erupted in the party. Remarkable is the statement of former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar, who is a Hindu face and keen for the CM's post.
The Akali Dal has also made it clear that if the party comes to power then the face of the Chief Minister will be party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Five times Chief Minister and 10 times MLA Parkash Singh Badal is now out of the Chief Minister's race. The party is also campaigning with Sukhbir as the CM's face.
This time various farmers' organizations are also contesting the elections. Balbir Singh Rajewal, who had led the farmers’ movement against three farm acts, is contesting the elections himself. The farmers have declared him the face of the Chief Minister. Rajewal's alliance agreement with the Aam Aadmi Party also failed to materialize due to the face of the CM post.
READ: Hours before CM face reveal, Sidhu-Channi dilemma prevails within Punjab Congress
However, Punjab Lok Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh was being taken as the face of the Chief Minister. But the Punjab Lok Congress has an alliance with the BJP. That is why the BJP leaders have refused to declare the face of the Chief Minister to anyone under the alliance.
According to the constitution and the form of government, the party leader is elected by the majority of winning members of any party. This is usually the leader who becomes the Chief Minister. After receiving the letter of support from the majority of the MLAs, only the Governor of the state endorses the support and the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor. The manner in which the process of announcing the face of the Chief Minister is being carried out by the political parties is nowhere in the present system.
But there are some examples when the big faces have unofficially declared the face for the post of PM of CMs. In Parliament election 2014, Narendra Modi was informally declared as the face for the post of PM. Same as in Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal had contested the number of Assembly elections as a CM. In Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and in other states, faces for CM were declared informally during the election.
Professor Manjit Singh, a professor of political science, said that the political parties were only campaigning for the face of the Chief Minister. However, there is no such thing in the rules. In fact, it is a form of depriving elected legislators of the right to choose their leaders.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA and leader Harpal Singh Cheema said that people want to see a hardworking and honest face as Chief Minister. There is nothing wrong with following the wishes of the people.
What legal experts say
Senior advocate ML Saghar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that the announcement of the Chief Minister's face is only political propaganda. Whereas it is mentioned in Part 6 and Chapter 2 and Article 163 of the Constitution that only a majority of legislators decide about the leader of the party after the meeting. The MLAs give a letter of their party to the Governor to form the government. The Governor invites someone to form the government only after confirming it. But, there is no provision in the law to invite a person, who is already declared face for Chief Minister.
Senior advocate Ramesh Wamal of Punjab and Haryana High Court also gives an example in this regard that in the year 2005, Congress had won the majority in Haryana under the leadership of Bhajan Lal. But immediately after the elections, the majority of the MLAs were with Bhupinder Singh Hooda, so Hooda was made the Chief Minister. In the same way, MLAs decide about their leader, of course, all this happens only on the instructions of the party.
Congress reaction on the issue
Punjab Congress vice-president Bali said that the decision ultimately rests with the party. In such a situation, there is pressure from the people that some face should be put forward. That's why Congress is going to declare the Chief Minister's face. Anyway, the Aam Aadmi Party has also declared the face of the Chief Minister, so it has become a trend in such a situation. But, the final decision of the Chief Minister's face is taken by the MLAs only and in that, too, the party will be the main one.
Punjab has given birth to a new tradition regarding the face of the Chief Minister. However, it has no legal meaning so far. The process of the shadow Cabinet is there in some countries like the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Declaring the Chief Minister's face can be a good move, which will reduce the race for big posts among the winning parties after winning the elections. But for this, it would also be wrong to deprive the legislators of the right to choose their leader.
