A day after the Congress asked its Rajya Sabha MP Shamsher Singh Dullo to resign from the party and also from the Upper House, the senior leader on Tuesday accused the party’s Punjab leadership of “abandoning the traditional Congressmen” in favour of the “tainted and moneybags”.
Dullo’s assertions came after the Punjab Congress Campaign Committee chairman Lal Singh had described Dullo as a “blot on the Congress” whose exit would benefit the party. Mincing no words, Lal Singh had asserted that the MP had no place in the Congress after his wife and son joined AAP and he himself declaring openly that he would not campaign for the Congress “not following the party’s diktat” to all leaders to support its official candidates.
Notably, Dullo’s wife Harbans Kaur and son Bandeep Singh have joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) only recently. In fact, AAP has declared Dullo’s son Bandeep Singh Dullo as its candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.
Bandeep, who was the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee secretary, joined AAP in New Delhi on Sunday, replacing his mother and former MLA as its candidate.
Earlier, the party had given ticket to Baljinder Singh but replaced him with Harbans Kaur after she joined AAP on April 16. It is learnt that the decision to field Bandeep was taken after the party found his mother ineffective in the poll campaign.
Dullo has been quoted in the media as saying that he was neither aware of who the Congress candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib was, nor would be campaign for him.
In an outburst, Dullo termed his party colleague Lal Singh as a “darbari” (courtier) of the powers-that-be. “He should introspect before questioning my loyalty to the Congress and my family life,” said Dullo.
Dullo alleged that the moneybags and those associated with mafia had managed to get tickets in place of the traditional Congress leaders whose generations had sacrificed their lives for the party.
“My fight is of principles and following the Congress culture and not supporting any wrongdoing,” he said.
Commenting on his son and wife joining the AAP, he cited the family members of other Congress leaders joining other parties. “Why am I being singled out?” he asked, while declaring that he would not support the party’s Fatehgarh Sahib candidate.