The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday formed a five-member disciplinary committee in Punjab in the wake of large scale protests against the Executive Committee of the party.
The panel, formed post rebellion, would take note of public airing of concerns by the party leaders regarding the list. With this, it is amply clear that the State party unit head Partap Singh Bajwa is emerging stronger as the high command has not only formed a committee to hear the grievances of the disgruntled leaders with favourable leaders within a week of party leaders criticising him in public, but also a disciplinary panel.
The move to set up the Committee comes less than a week after Bajwa told the “rivals within” not to go to the media, but take up the issue with him. The Committee has been formed under the chairmanship of former legislator and senior advocate Gopal Krishan Chatrath, with former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly Jaswant Singh, former MlA Bhag Singh, former MlA Gulkanwal Kaur, and Punjab Youth Congress’s former president Rana Varinder Singh as its member.
It has been learnt that the panel has been formed after exhaustive discussions with senior Punjab Congress leaders. Though the panel was earlier decided to have seven members, the names of only five leaders have been finalised eventually. The panel has been formed to ensure that workers express their grievances at the party forum alone, and in case of violating the code, the panel has been empowered to dealt with the leaders concerned.
Even as the State party affairs general secretary in-charge Shakeel Ahmad has all along been maintaining that the disciplinary committees have already been formed in all State party units, the need for the same arise after a large scale revolt against the list of PPCC office bearers.
Since the PPCC list was released on December 28, a series of resignations, statements criticising Bajwa, and protesting letters were shot off to the party high command by more than two dozens senior leaders. Among those who revolted and accused Bajwa of adopting a policy of bias, favouritism, among other things, include former Union Minister and MP Ashwani Kumar, former Minister and Kharar MlA Jagmohan Kang, Kapurthala MlA Rana Gurjit, state Mahila Congress chief Malti Thapar, senior Congress leaders and former Ministers Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, Santokh Chaudhary and Amarjit Singh Samra, and so on.
Among other things, the terms of reference of the panel stated that the State Congress chief would be significant to take action against all Punjab Congress delegates in matters of indiscipline. In case of cases of indiscipline involving the AICC members from the state, the Punjab party chief have to refer their cases to the AICC for further action at the Central level.