Virtually censuring the Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa for his reluctance to contest lok Sabha polls from Gurdaspur constituency, his predecessor Amarinder Singh on Friday said that Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president was required to play a more proactive role.
Amarinder, in his interaction with the media, said that he, during his stint at the helm of party affairs for 16 long years, had contested elections while leading the party. He added that even the Central Congress leadership was always in the forefront. Quoting examples, Amarinder said: “I was heading the party for 16 years, either as PPCC president, Chief Minister or even as election committee in-charge, I never backed off from fighting elections.”
“I used to fight elections and head the organisation. That is what Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been doing, and that’s what Rahul Gandhi is doing,” he added. Asking about his take on Bajwa’s candidature from Gurdaspur, Amarinder said: “I have conveyed my opinion to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.” Amarinder’s statement assumes significance as sitting Gurdaspur MP Bajwa is showing reluctance to contest lok Sabha elections as, sources maintained, he is eyeing the Chief Ministers’ seat in the future. At the same time, Bajwa’s bete noire Amarinder has also made it clear that it was state politics that “interests him”, and he was in no mood to shift his base to national political scene.
In his rather failed attempt, Bajwa had proposed Amarinder’s name as party’s candidate from Bathinda — something categorically brushed aside by the former Chief Minister. In fact, after Amarinder’s elevation as permanent invitee of the congress working committee, the Bajwa camp termed it as the end of road to State politics for Amarinder. As the tussle between the two is not unknown everyone, a constant power struggle is being witnessed within Amarinder and Bajwa. Only couples of days before, Bajwa targeted Amarinder for not joining hands with the people’s Party of Punjab before 2012 Assembly elections saying that the decision might have brought some other result.
This was not all! Amarinder also targeted Bajwa on the issue of senior party leaders defecting from the party. “During my tenure at the responsible positions in the Congress, only one MlA Joginder Pal Jain switched loyalties. But after that, some five senior leaders, including a sitting MlA, have left the Congress. Only Bajwa can answer why they have left,” he said. At the same time, Amarinder denied reports that more Congress MlAs were in the line to join SAD. “No one is going anywhere… Arvind Khanna has returned from Europe tour after two weeks. There is no question that he is joining the SAD. Same Mohd Sadique, Harchand Kaur…they all are here. Akalis are concocting their own stories and leaking it in the media,” he said.