The recent unpleasant development in the Punjab Congress unit where Navjyot Singh Siddhu has openly targeted and severely criticized chief minister Amrindar Singh shows only one thing. That is, the Congress leadership or high command is weakening with every passing day. The reason is obvious: The leaders of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been proved unable to bring a massive win for the party in any elections. In fact, the leaders are so weak that, in West Bengal, the party has witnessed a complete fall down with not a single seat is won by Congress. Though the Congressmen are not openly taking on the high command, but tacitly they are ready to stand against it if the need arises. The daring of state-level leaders to make statements against the party’s own chief ministers and other office-bearers show the respect for high command has vanished. In earlier days, Indira Gandhi’s one-election rally was enough for ensuring Congress candidate’s win in elections. As a result, there was nobody in the party who had the daring of sitting in the presence of Indira Gandhi. As the high command has lost the ability to bring success in elections, the open rebellion has been increased in the party. This is cause and effect. The long and protracted negotiations relating to poll-bound Punjab have not yet resulted in a favorable outcome for Congress. Not just in Punjab, the grand old party has not been able to settle the leadership issues in many of its state units across the country. In a nutshell, the crisis in Congress-ruled Punjab arose due to former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s restlessness turning into a potential rebellion, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s reported growth in the state, and Chief Minister Amrinder Singh’s insistence to go solo. The problem assumed bigger propositions as the party leadership — Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi — saw merit in every argument advanced by the rival camps. After three days of deliberations and consultations, the upshot has been ‘status quo ante’ i.e. 79-year-old Captain Amrinder Singh will lead the party campaign for February 2022 and Sidhu would not turn into a full-scale rebel. Captain has tentatively agreed to ‘take everyone along’. However, beneath the calmness, there is an utter sense of mutual distrust and one-upmanship. An internal crisis later this year or just before the commencement of the assembly polls cannot be ruled out. For the first time after the demise of senior Congress leader and ace political strategist Ahmed Patel, the Gandhi trio of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, tried to deal with the internal crisis putting their prestige at stake. They had a fig-leaf of a committee consisting of Mallikarjun Kharge, JP Aggarwal and Harish Rawat (who is AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab) to executive a ‘peace plan’.The broader contours of a brief, reportedly prepared by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was to harp on the need for unity, acceptance of the stature and strength of Singh and the Chief Minister’s willingness to look into the grievances advanced by Sidhu and other Congress dissidents. Not only in Punjab, in every state unit, but Congress also faces rebellion. On a national scale, even Sonia and Rahul face rebellion from twenty-three senior leaders which matter is still unresolved. congress veterans say the footsies being played in Chandigarh and Delhi indicate a weak Congress high command unable to act from a position of strength. In other words, Rahul Gandhi’s inability to wrest Kerala from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a poor showing in Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry, denied him a political authority to assert himself vis-a-vis regional satraps. Another state which reflects Rahul Gandhi’s failure to settle the leadership issue in Rajasthan. About 10 months have passed but the impasse between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot is yet to be resolved. A pilot has been fuming and fretting over the un-kept promises that were fundamentally three-fold. After Pilot gave up his protest against Gehlot in August, the Gandhi trio had reportedly assured him that his camp followers would get ‘adequate representations’ in state-run boards and corporations, in the Gehlot ministry and in the Rajasthan Congress unit. Till date Gehlot seems every bit defiant to deny rival Pilot any concessions. If Congress's high command wants respect, it must show the way how to win elections. The only authority will not work.