Stitch in time saves nine, quips Kapil Sibal on change of CMs in 3 states

Veteran Congressman Kapil Sibal on Sunday offered a wisecrack on Twitter on the change of guard in three states in the last few months.

“Changing Guard. Uttarakhand , Gujarat , Punjab. Age old saying : A stitch in time saves nine. Will it?” Sibal tweeted.

By using the proverb “a stitch in time saves nine”, he meant to say that parties such as the BJP and Congress were fixing a problem when it was small than waiting for it to become a bigger issue that may cost them elections in the time to come.

Sibal also posed the question whether changing of state chief ministers would be of benefit in the long run to political parties beset with internal rifts. The veteran leader was last year among 23 Congressmen who had written to chief Sonia Gandhi seeking reboot of their own party.

The Congress on Saturday saw its stalwart Amarinder Singh quitting as chief minister in Punjab, amid turmoil in the state leadership, lack of trust with the party high command, and rebellion by Singh’s state rival Navjot Singh Sidhu. The Congress was on Sunday considering Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as the new chief minister, ahead of the crucial state polls.

Also read: How Amarinder Singh went from Punjab’s Captain to Captain Cooked

In BJP-ruled Gujarat a week ago, Vijay Rupani quit along with his entire cabinet and the BJP lost no time in replacing him with Bhupendra Patel. His resignation followed reports of dwindling support for the CM and factionalism in the state BJP unit.

Rupani told the media after submitting his papers: “It is well known the BJP, as a party, keeps changing as per requirements… it is a speciality of our party that every worker delivers to the fullest, and I too will continue to work for the party with the same energy.”

The BJP was reportedly fearing an electoral setback in the state if it went to polls under Rupani’s leadership and course corrected swiftly, as Gujarat is also set to have elections.

The party similarly made amends in Uttarakhand earlier this year, replacing two chief ministers – Trivendra Rawat, who was besieged by fierce opposition from within the BJP, with Tirath Singh Rawat, who also quit four months later, and was replaced with Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Sibal in his tweet seems to have forgotten Karnataka, the first state that saw a sudden change of guard this year, when BJP’s BS Yediyurappa resigned and was swiftly replaced with Basavaraj Bommai.

Also read: Inside story: Why Rupani had to resign as Gujarat CM, and who comes next