Congress on Sunday appointed party secretary Asha Kumari as its in-charge of poll-bound Punjab. She will succeed senior party leader Kamal Nath who was forced to resign following uproar over his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a charge he has vehemently denied. But just like in the case of Kamal Nath, the choice of Asha Kumari also triggered a controversy since she was recently convicted in a land grab case.
An MlA from Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, Kumari was given one-year imprisonment by a Chamba court in February this year but is currently on bail. Assembly elections are due in Punjab next year.
Party sources had earlier said that in Punjab the leadership could make a temporary appointment of an existing general secretary till a decision is taken on induction of new leaders in the AICC secretariat.
Kumari was convicted on February 26 in the land grab case by a Chamba court and sentenced to one year imprisonment, besides being fined Rs 8,000. The court had held her guilty of criminal conspiracy.
On March 19, the Himachal Pradesh High Court suspended the one-year sentence.
An AICC secretary and four-time MlA, Kumari was facing trial in the case for over a decade along with six other persons. Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi said the appointment was "unfortunate and disgusting".
"First it was Kamal Nath and now Asha Kumari, who has been sentenced 1-year jail by court in a case of land grab that too recently. I think they don't have good leaders," he said.