Congress party in Punjab has further plunged into crisis with its own party-men training guns at each other over the issue of compassionate appointments to the sons of party legislators. Amidst efforts by the Congress high command to iron out the differences between the party leaders in Punjab, the infighting took an ugly turn with Qadian MLA Fatehjung Bajwa virtually blaming his senior colleagues for dual approach.
Fathejung said that while his family came under fire because of compassionate appointment to his son, Arjun Fatehjung Bajwa, kin of at least three other Congress men were “enjoying chairmanship”.
A day after Fatehjung conveyed refusal to the State Government’s job offer to his son in writing to the party high command, Congress legislator asked if his fellow party men, whose close kin were appointed on “plum posts” would follow the suit.
Notably, the State Cabinet, in its June 18 meeting, has decided to appoint sons of two Congress MLAs — Arjun Pratap Singh Bajwa (Fatehjung Bajwa’s son) as Punjab Police Inspector; and Bhisham Pandey (Rakesh Pandey’s) as Naib Tehsildar on “compassionate grounds” as “special cases”.
The move came more than 30 years after both the appointees had lost their respective grandfathers in terrorist attacks in 1987. While Fatehjung’s father, Satnam Singh Bajwa, who was also the former Minister, was killed in a terrorist attack in Amritsar; Pandey’s father Joginderpal Pandey was killed by terrorists in Ludhiana when insurgency was at its peak in Punjab.
However, the decision refused to go down well with the opposition parties and also a major section of the Congress party, soon turning it into a major controversy. The controversy over giving government jobs to the two legislators’ sons on “compassionate grounds” has not only brought much embarrassment for the ruling, but have also virtually divided Punjab Congress unit in a vertical.
The move was opposed by five Cabinet Ministers — Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tripat Rajinder SIngh Bajwa, Razia Sultana, Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhbinder Singh Sarakaria, Chanrjit Singh Channi.
Besides, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, dubbing the decision as “wrong”, had requested the Chief Minister for its review. Other than that, Congress MLAs Kuljit Nagra, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Pargat Singh, Harjot Kamal, have also questioned the government’s move, besides Capt Amarinder’s bête noire Navjot Singh Sidhu.
On the other hand, nine Cabinet ministers and four Congress MPs, and some of the MLAs from Ludhiana, had backed the State Government’s decision, calling it “correct and in line with appointments given to similarly situated persons in the past”.
Defending the decision, Capt Amarinder had made it clear that there was “no question of rescinding the Punjab Cabinet decision on jobs for sons of two Congress MLAs. It is just a small token of gratitude and compensation for the sacrifices of their families. It's shameful that some people are giving political colour to this decision”.
“Arjun has set a precedent…I want to ask Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa whose son is Gurdaspur Zila Parishad chairman, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria whose nephew is Amritsar Zila Parishad chairman, and also our Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar whose nephew Ajay Vir Jakhar is Punjab State Farmers’ Commission chairman whether they will follow this precedent,” said Fatehjung.
Fatehjung, addressing the media along with his both sons — Arjun and Kanwar Pratap, said: “We would now like these heavy weight politicians…to follow the precedent Arjun has set by rejecting this job offer.”
Qadian MLA claimed that sensing that the issue would be used against him by some leaders, “I had requested the Chief Minister to withdraw the agenda of Arjun’s job”.
Lashing out at Jakhar for his “wrong advisers” remarks, Fatehjung asked the state party president who all were wrong and what wrong decisions the Chief Minister is taking.
“Jakhar first wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi, he then called me and said that I may have differences with Partap Bajwa (Fatehjung’s brother and Rajya Sabha MP), but you and your son Arjun helped me in my elections…I then asked Jakhar if he was doing all this for all that help,” he said.
“I want to ask such leaders who are doing this type of politics that what message they want to convey…that they are not with the Chief Minister,” he added.
Retorting to Qadian MLA Fatehjung Bajwa’s allegations, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday said that Bajwa family should publicly apologize for hurting the feelings of the youth of the state instead of throwing mud on others.
“Bajwa family has not only hurt the sentiments of thousands of youth of the state by taking government jobs but they have also damaged the reputation of their Chief Minister and their party and the name of their father,” said Jakhar.
He said that even now, instead of quitting his job on moral grounds, Bajwa family was trying to cover up their mistakes by throwing mud on others. “It would be better even today if he would admit his mistake and publicly apologize to the people of the state,” he said.