Infighting in Congress party’s Punjab unit is getting worse. In an apparent attempt to suppress the voices of dissidence against the State party chief Partap Singh Bajwa, the party’s Disciplinary Action Committee on Thursday issued showcause notices to two of Capt Amarinder Singh’s loyalists.
Guru Har Sahai MlA Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and Barnala MlA Kewal Dhillon, considered close to the former Chief Minister, have been put on notice for remaining absent from their constituency during recently concluded polls and, going public against the state party chief.
Setting 10-day deadline for them, the duo have been asked to explain their absence from their respective constituencies during lok Sabha elections, despite specific instructions by the Congress high command to remain present and campaign for the party candidate in their respective constituencies.
These two senior leaders have also been accused of issuing a statement to the media seeking Bajwa’s ouster from the post of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) after Congress party’s failure in elections.
The situation has taken an ugly turn with most of the MlAs and leaders mentioned in the statement claiming that their names were inserted without their knowledge. A total of 24 Congress MlAs, besides other party leaders, had released a statement to the media, asking Bajwa to own up “moral responsibility” for the party’s poll debacle in Punjab and step down.
“Notices have been issued to Dhillon and Rana Gurmeet for going to the media and demanding action against Bajwa, rather than raising the matter at the party forum,” said Punjab Congress’s Disciplinary Action Committee chairman and senior party leader Gopal Krishan Chatrath.
Chatrath stated that these two MlAs did not even visit their own Assembly segments during campaigning for the lok Sabha polls leading to the party’s poor performance in those seats, and “now they are demanding action against Bajwa…What is their right to question Bajwa.”
Guru Har Sahai Assembly constituency comes under Ferozepur lok Sabha seat from where leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sunil Jakhar lost to sitting SAD MP Sher Singh Ghubaya; while in Sangrur lok Sabha constituency, wherein Barnala Assembly segment falls, Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla finished third with forfeiture of his security deposit.
In Gurmeet’s Sodhi’s constituency, party lost by 9428 votes, while in Dhillon’s segment, the party trailed by a whopping 49,039 votes.
The Committee has, as of now, not decided on the action against the erring leaders. “Action would depend on their reply,” said Chatrath.
Chatrath said that notices would also be issued to those who had signed the statement, seeking Bajwa’s resignation. “We have checked facts. Some people say they have not signed the statement. leaders whose names appeared in it are being asked. We believe that some leaders whose names appeared in the statement did not sign,” he added.
Without naming any one, but enough to indicate at the person or leaders he was talking about, Chatrath said that it did not behove a party general and senior leaders to “condemn, directly or indirectly, the State party leadership, the party high command after losing the elections”.
Every leader’s role under scanner
Coming out in open defence of the party chief, Chatrath spelled out a strict word of caution, “We will spare none.” In an attempt to take discipline in the party to the next level, Chatrath said that the Committee was “assessing and evaluating every person’s role down to the booth level, constituency-wise… to see how much responsible a leader is in the victory and defeat and how many votes were polled as compared to the past elections”.
‘Indisciplined’ leaders’ to be named online
The Committee has also decided to put “online” the names of all the leaders who have been sent notice or have created indiscipline in the party. “We will put online the contributions made by every person on the website for all to see,” said Chatrath.