The leadership crisis in Congress party unit in Punjab continues with party’s national vice-president Rahul Gandhi still struggling hard to find a solution to the problem.
Rahul has been holding one-to-one meetings with the party MlAs. So far, he has met former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Congress legislative Party leader Sunil Jakhar, former Minister lal Singh, among others to put an end to the ongoing ambiguity in state party unit, which is all set to witness high-octane Assembly Polls in early 2017.
Rahul, who met six Punjab MlAs on October 8, met another set of legislators on Monday, including Bhattal. He is now scheduled to meet another group of leaders from the State, the district party presidents, on October 14 before reaching a conclusion.
As of now, most of the MlAs Rahul has met have either supported the former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh for the post of state party chief or remained neutral.
The meeting comes at a time when Amarinder and the State party president Partap Singh Bajwa have virtually declared a war for supremacy against each other.
A set of MlAs, who met Rahul on Monday, stressed on “early resolution” of the leadership crisis, taking advantage of anti-SAD mood in the State, putting up a united front ahead 2017 polls, among other issues. The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab has also been highlighted during the meetings.
Rahul has obtained feedback from the MlAs and discussed the future plans with them before finalising the restructuring of the state party unit. Among many issues, discussion on the choice of State party president was the top priority. It has been learnt that most of the legislators have backed Capt for Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president by replacing Bajwa.
“The meeting was fruitful and I have urged him for the early resolution of the leadership issue in the state as the Congress has already lost a lot of time. There is strong wave against the ruling coalition and we should take advantage of the same and losing out time in settling intra-party affairs,” Bhattal told The Pioneer.
The former Chief Minister said that as of now, the names of Amarinder and former Union Minister Ambika Soni are doing the rounds, and high command id expected to take the final call on the issue soon. At the same time, she also stressed on unity and harmony within the party.
Another party MlA, requesting anonymity, said that Amarinder was the “best option” to lead the party. “He enjoys the support of the party cadre and the people of the state as was evident from his recent rallies. He has the experience and the stature to match the leaders like Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,” said the MlA.
“Bajwa is bound to go…there is a strong wave against him within the party. He has failed to prove himself as a leader who will lead the party from the front to win the elections. We have got the indications and it seems that the high command has make up its mind to choose Capt to lead the party,” said another party MlA, who did not wish to be named. Besides discussing who heads the State Congress unit ahead of Punjab Assembly polls in 2017, issues like giving responsibilities to the senior leaders along with involving the young faces, maintaining balance between different rung and sections of state leaders, ensuring no one is left out or ignored, was discussed.