Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh is likely to visit Bholath segment here on Monday to interact with the party leaders and workers to look for a prospective candidate to replace Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the Congress spokesperson who recently quit the party to join Aam Aadmi party (AAP).
In a setback to the Congress ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls in Punjab, Congress leader Khaira had recently joined AAP. Khira had expressed disappointment in the Congress ‘high command’ for recent appointments to the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC).
Khaira, a former MlA and state Congress spokesperson, had joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in Chandigarh in the presence of the AAP’s leadership, including the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh, state convener Sucha Singh Chottepur and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann.
Notably, senior Congress leaders have no one to lean on in Bholath, the segment from where Khaira, a former MlA, contested the last four assembly elections on a Congress ticket,
Among those the Congress can now think of taking Khaira’s place in Bholath is Avtar Singh Walia, a leader in Doaba. Walia was quite active in the recent months after sensing Khaira’s increasing inclination towards the AAP.
Capt. Amarinder Singh had earlier said that the exit of Khaira from the Congress would not affect the Congress in Punjab.