Infighting within the Punjab unit of Congress party is far from over. A day after the party MLA from Abohar Sandeep Jakhar slammed Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for “publicly rebuking” a fellow legislator, the party high command on Monday issued show cause notice to its three-time MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Punjab party affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary has sent a show cause notice to Khaira seeking a reply on his public statement for speaking against the PPCC chief saying that the state Congress chief should “not waste energy on defending individuals” suggesting him to lift party’s dharna in Ludhiana.
Khaira, Bholath MLA and also the All India Kisan Congress chairman, had made the statement after the arrest of former Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu in an alleged food grain transportation scam. Warring and several party leaders had protested against it and staged dharna outside the Vigilance Bureau’s Ludhiana office.
“I request @RajaBrar_INC not to waste party cadres energy over defending individuals as there’re tons of burning issues facing Pb like Beadbi, farmer suicides, water logging, Lsd etc. I faced ED & bcoz i was truthful, Bholath voted me to Vidhan Sabha. If our leaders r honest why worry?” Khaira had tweeted.
In another tweet, Khaira had also made it clear that his tweet should not be seen as infighting in the state party organisation as he was suggesting “to salvage the declining image of the party in Punjab”.
Chaudhary has now sought an explanation from Khaira for his tweet, wherein he asked Warring “not to waste the energy” of party workers in opposing the arrest of the former Congress Minister Ashu as there are other burning issues in the state, like the lumpy skin disease and farmer suicides. Chaudhary has asked Khaira to justify his statement against Warring.
Notably, Punjab Congress chief had led a protest outside the Punjab Vigilance Bureau office, on August 27, against the arrest of former Congress minister Ashu.
The development assumes significance as the Congress’ Punjab unit has been plagued with infighting for a while now. Only a day before, Sandeep Jakhar minced no words to say that Warring’s attitude smacked of “sheer arrogance”, reacting to PPCC chief’s reply to Khaira that one should not give suggestions when not asked for it.
In a fresh attack on Warring, Jakhar, in a tweet, had said: “The sheer arrogance of the Punjab Congress president, when you publicly rebuke a senior leader like Khaira sahab and then one expects to be respected by the cadre..Respect is earned....”
Warring and Jakhar had also taken potshots at each other earlier this month, with the state party chief daring the first-time MLA to quit the Congress and the legislator asking to expel him.
Sandeep Jakhar is the nephew of former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who had joined the BJP in May this year.