The ongoing crisis in Punjab Congress that erupted after the re-constitution of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) almost a week ago, deepened further on Friday as more leaders raised the banner of revolt against the party chief or adopted the way of resigning from their party posts.
Former minister and sitting MlA from ludhiana district Rakesh Pandey, along with ex-ministers Malkit Singh Birmi and Ashok Prashar Pappi has put in their papers on Friday. While another senior leader from Gurdaspur district Kamal Bakshi too assailed the state party president Partap Singh Bajwa alleging him for ignoring him for being Capt Amarinder Singh loyalist.
Pappi contested as a Congress candidate from ludhiana (south) in the 2012 assembly elections. All the three senior leaders, who are members of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), announced their resignations from the party posts in a meeting held in ludhiana.
They have decided not to accept any position for not getting “due reward” in the list of new office bearers announced recently by the State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa.
Raising a banner of revolt, these leaders claimed that they had been “ignored and humiliated”. In a resolution passed in the meeting, the Congress workers demanded that present list should be withdrawn immediately and a new list of working committee members should be announced, sources said.
The meeting was presided over by Rakesh Pandey, a sitting MlA and a former minister. They have also given an ultimatum to Bajwa to release a new list of office bearers by January 19 next otherwise they would start a chain hunger strike in the city.
A day before, 10 senior Congress leaders from Moga district had also publicly opposed the new committee.