A day after Congress MlA from Raja Sansi raised a banner of revolt against the State party president Partap Singh Bajwa, a majority of party leaders and legislators on Monday rallied behind the party chief demanding, “in one voice”, the ouster of Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria for “anti-party activities”. Sarkaria has written an open letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi complaining against Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president and urging her to review the party functioning in the State.
His letter was critical of the party leadership in Punjab and heaps praise on Bajwa's predecessor and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Without naming him, the “rebel” MlA urged the high command to “give the party leadership in Punjab back to a person recognised by the entire top leadership and who can take everyone along”.
Terming Sarkaria’s allegations against Bajwa as “rubbish and mischievous”, the State Congress leaders demanded his expulsion from the party for anti-party activities. A section MlAs also demanded “disciplinary action” against Raja Sansi MlA “for causing damage to party’s image”.
The party legislators and MlAs, in two separate press statements, expressed their solidarity with Bajwa, while damned Sarkaria’s letter. Dubbing Sarkaria as “a puppet in the hands of anti-Congress lobby”, a bunch of Congress MlAs, the party MlAs said that the so-called letter written by Sarkaria to AICC president was part of “planned conspiracy hatched by vested interests to harm the prospects of party in the coming lok Sabha elections”.
MlAs Kewal Singh Dhillon, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Brahm Mohindra, Randeep Singh Nabha, Ajit Inder Singh Mofar, Rakesh Pandey, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Navtej Singh Cheema, Parminder Singh Pinky, in a joint statement, stated that the performance of Bajwa during his stint of about eight months was outstanding and unquestionable.
They appealed the party high command to deal sternly with individual persons in the party who are trying to weaken the party from within. In another statement by MlAs and leaders hailing from Majha region of the State, maintained that Sarkaria was hobnobbing with Bajwa’s detractors, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal.
PPCC vice-president for Majha OP Soni, MlAs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Aruna Chaudhary, Raj Kumar Verka, Ashwani Sekhri, and former MlAs Harpartap Singh Ajnala, Jasbir Singh Gill, and others, in a joint statement, alleged that Sarkaria’s business interests with Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majitha are no more a secret, and “he was keen to join SAD but his mentors found it suitable to damage the Congress party from within”.
Asserting that Sarkaria had no right to remain in party, they said his statement that Bajwa had failed to take along party workers and leaders was highly condemnable and an attempt to jeopardise the party's prospects in coming lok Sabha elections.
Nobody bothers about Bajwa, says Badal
Gurdaspur: Taking a dig at Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday said that the fact that their national president Sonia Gandhi has not met a farmer’s delegation led by the state Congress president in New Delhi reflects that “nobody bothers about him”. He said that neither Congress high command nor the state Congress leadership cares about Bajwa or the issues raised by him. “Even the local MlAs in the state are raising a banner of revolt against the self-style functioning of the State Congress president,” he added.