Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Cutting the captain: On Congress and Punjab

Cutting the captain: On Congress and Punjab

The Congress might have ended one crisis in Punjab only to set off (cause, lead to, bring about, give rise to; trigger/spark off) a bigger one

Amarinder Singh’s ouster (निकाल देना, बेदखली), and the selection of his baiter (a person who is deliberately annoying/irritating someone; accuser, blamer, troublemaker, belittler, harasser, torturer) Charanjit Singh Channi as Chief Minister of Punjab was scripted in Delhi by the Congress high command (commander-in-chief, head, leader, boss), which in effect (वास्तव में) is party MP Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They pushed for the change of guard (It used to refer to a situation in which there is a (dramatic)change in which new people are replacing people (existing) in positions of importance) only months ahead of the next Assembly election tenaciously (दृढ़तापूर्वक, दृढता से). Punjab is one of only three States where the party is in power. The party MLAs had turned against (के खिलाफ़ होना, नापसंद करना, विरोध करना) Captain Amarinder, but not before the Gandhis made it clear that they wanted him out. Capt. Amarinder, 79, had said of the 2017 Assembly election that it was the last in his career, and the party should identify his successor (उत्तराधिकारी, वंशज) ahead of the next election which is now due (expected, awaited, anticipated, scheduled for) in months. While the Gandhis appear to have taken it too seriously, Capt. Amarinder, as those in power often do, went back on his words. Capt. Amarinder says the reason for his change of mind — he now says his retirement is not imminent (करीब, निकट) — is the choice by the Gandhis of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party State president, whom he considers as anti-national and mixed up (उलझन, भ्रमित करना) with the Pakistani establishment (संस्थान). The incoming (आनेवाला) Chief Minister, a Dalit Sikh, and the party chief have been acting in tandem to unseat Capt. Amarinder.

It is one thing to push for (demand, insist on, ask for, urge) new leadership in the party and quite another to create a crisis in the process. The cost (लागत, हानि, क्षति) of this change for the Congress will be clear only in the coming days, but it is already evident that getting the party back in fighting shape will be an uphill (arduous, difficult, hard/tough, taxing, demanding) task. Capt. Amarinder is exploring (look into, examine, evaluate (options)) political options outside the Congress. While it may not be easy for him to build something new, he could queer (spoil, damage, impair) the pitch for the Congress. His absence itself could be a drag on the feet for the party. Though admittedly (actually, truly/verily, indeed) inaccessible (पहुंच से बाहर, रास्ते से बाहर) to ordinary workers and even party leaders, his sense of (awareness, understanding, comprehension) the people’s pulse (की भावना, समाज की भावनाएँ या विचार) in the communally sensitive border State has been critical for the party. His moderate (उदारवादी, संयमित, नियंत्रित) image, secular (धर्मनिरपेक्ष, गैर-धार्मिक, सांसारिक) approach, and nationalist (loyalist, flag-waving) rhetoric (bombast, loftiness, hyperbole/extravagant language) fit (be suitable, be appropriate) the Congress well. Mr. Sidhu and Mr. Channi have been making provocative (annoying, irritating, agitational, inflammatory) appeals to Sikh religious grievances (protestation, charge, complaint, objection), in their efforts to outsmart (defeat cleverly; outwit, outplay; get the better of) the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the outgoing (departing, retiring, leaving) Chief Minister. His propensity (tendency, inclination, predisposition, readiness) for communal appealing, and his unstable temperament (disposition, nature, character, personality, mettle; attitude) make Mr. Sidhu a sinister (disturbing, menacing, threatening, alarming) joker in the Congress pack. Should the Congress win, he will claim the Chief Minister’s post. With the SAD on the back foot (in a defensive position, off balance, at a disadvantage) for being part of the Union government when it enacted the three farm laws that the State’s farmers are up in arms against (If someone is up in arms about something, he/she is very angry about it and is protesting strongly against it.), and the BJP friendless and faceless (impersonal, remote; characterless, unremarkable), the Congress had appeared poised (position oneself, ready oneself, prepare oneself, brace oneself, get into position, gear oneself up) to retain power. Perhaps (maybe, possibly) such advantageous circumstances (situation, condition, context) emboldened (encourage, motivate; strengthen, fortify) the Gandhis to go for the jugular (be aggressive, be unrestrained, be ferocious (when attacking/criticizing an opponent)) in Punjab. But the SAD might have got a lifeline (means of escape), and the Aam Aadmi Party new hope while the Congress deals with its internal crisis.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.ouster (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निकाल देना, बेदखली
English Meaning - removal from office, unseating, dismissal, throwing out.

2.in effect (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - वास्तव में
English Meaning - really, in reality, in truth, in fact.

3.tenaciously (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - दृढ़तापूर्वक, दृढता से
English Meaning - resolutely, firmly, single-mindedly; persistently, uncompromisingly, relentlessly.

4.turn against (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - के खिलाफ़ होना, नापसंद करना, विरोध करना
English Meaning - become hostile to, take a dislike to, stand against, oppose, rebel.

5.make clear (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - स्पष्ट करना, समझाना, स्पष्ट करना
English Meaning - explain, clarify, elucidate.

6.successor (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उत्तराधिकारी, वंशज
English Meaning - inheritor, next-in-line, descendant.

7.imminent (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - करीब, निकट
English Meaning - impending, at hand, close, near; about to happen.

8.mix up (with) (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - उलझन, भ्रमित करना
English Meaning - confuse, muddle, get jumbled up, scramble, throw into confusion.

9.the establishment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संस्थान
English Meaning - the powers that be, the authorities, the system, the regime.

10.incoming (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - आनेवाला
English Meaning - succeeding, new, next, soon to take office.

11.cost (noun)

Hindi Meaning - लागत, हानि, क्षति
English Meaning - loss, damage, undesirable consequences, adverse effects, disadvantage.

12.inaccessible (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - पहुंच से बाहर, रास्ते से बाहर
English Meaning - unreachable, out of reach, beyond reach, out of the way.

13.pulse (noun)

Hindi Meaning - की भावना, समाज की भावनाएँ या विचार
English Meaning - the feelings or thoughts of a group/society.

14.moderate (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - उदारवादी, संयमित, नियंत्रित
English Meaning - restrained, controlled, temperate, sober.

15.secular (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - धर्मनिरपेक्ष, गैर-धार्मिक, सांसारिक
English Meaning - non-religious, worldly, earthly.

16.baiter (noun)

English Meaning - a person who is deliberately annoying/irritating someone; accuser, blamer, troublemaker, belittler, harasser, torturer.

17.high command (noun)

English Meaning - commander-in-chief, head, leader, boss.

18.cut (verb)

English Meaning - ignore, snub, shun; remove.

19.set off (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - cause, lead to, bring about, give rise to; trigger/spark off.

20.push for (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - demand, insist on, ask for, urge.

21.change of guard (phrase)

English Meaning - It used to refer to a situation in which there is a (dramatic)change in which new people are replacing people (existing) in positions of importance.

22.due (adjective)

English Meaning - expected, awaited, anticipated, scheduled for.

23.go back on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - renege on, break one’s promise, default on, backtrack on, repudiate, retract.

24.go back on one’s word (phrase)

English Meaning - to break one’s promise.

25.uphill (adjective)

English Meaning - arduous, difficult, hard/tough, taxing, demanding.

26.explore (verb)

English Meaning - look into, examine, evaluate (options)

27.queer (verb)

English Meaning - spoil, damage, impair.

28.queer someone’s pitch/queer the pitch (phrase)

English Meaning - to spoil something that someone had planned to do (in order to achieve something)

29.drag one’s feet (phrase)

English Meaning - delay, procrastinate, postpone action, put off doing something.

30.admittedly (adverb)

English Meaning - actually, truly/verily, indeed.

31.sense of (noun)

English Meaning - awareness, understanding, comprehension.

32.nationalist (adjective)

English Meaning - loyalist, flag-waving.

33.rhetoric (noun)

English Meaning - bombast, loftiness, hyperbole/extravagant language.

34.fit (verb)

English Meaning - be suitable, be appropriate.

35.provocative (adjective)

English Meaning - annoying, irritating, agitational, inflammatory.

36.grievance (noun)

English Meaning - protestation, charge, complaint, objection.

37.outsmart (verb)

English Meaning - defeat cleverly; outwit, outplay; get the better of.

38.outgoing (adjective)

English Meaning - departing, retiring, leaving.

39.propensity (noun)

English Meaning - tendency, inclination, predisposition, readiness.

40.temperament (noun)

English Meaning - disposition, nature, character, personality, mettle; attitude.

41.sinister (adjective)

English Meaning - disturbing, menacing, threatening, alarming.

42.the joker in the pack (phrase)

English Meaning - If someone is the joker in the pack, he/she is different from the other people in a situation and nobody knows how he/she will behave.

43.on the back foot (phrase)

English Meaning - in a defensive position, off balance, at a disadvantage.

44.Farm Acts, 2000 (noun)

English Meaning - Farm Acts, 2000 refer to three agricultural bills passed by Indian Parliament in September 2020. The three acts are “The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (FPTC Act) allows farmers to sell their harvest outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis without paying any State taxes or fees”, “the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 facilitates contract farming and direct marketing”, and “the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 deregulates the production, storage, movement and sale of several major foodstuffs, including cereals, pulses, edible oils and onion, except in the case of extraordinary circumstances”.

45.up in arms against (phrase)

English Meaning - If someone is up in arms about something, he/she is very angry about it and is protesting strongly against it.

46.faceless (adjective)

English Meaning - impersonal, remote; characterless, unremarkable.

47.poise (verb)

English Meaning - position oneself, ready oneself, prepare oneself, brace oneself, get into position, gear oneself up.

48.perhaps (adverb)

English Meaning - maybe, possibly.

49.circumstance (noun)

English Meaning - situation, condition, context.

50.embolden (verb)

English Meaning - encourage, motivate; strengthen, fortify.