Worried over factional feud in Punjab where it sees a revival opportunity for itself, Congress leadership may soon step in to work out a solution as former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and PCC chief Pratap Singh Bajwa continue to be on a collision course.
Worried over factional feud in Punjab where it sees a revival opportunity for itself, Congress leadership may soon step in to work out a solution as former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and PCC chief Pratap Singh Bajwa continue to be on a collision course.
Singh, a permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee, did not attend the meeting of the party's highest decision making body which discussed its way ahead after the worst-ever poll debacle in 2014 general elections.
Party general secretary in-charge of Organisation, Janardan Dwivedi, however, downplayed it saying Singh had already informed about his inability to attend the meeting in advance. He said out of 34 leaders invited for the meeting, 30 attended.
Congress had on Monday downplayed as a "minor" issue the factional feud in its Punjab unit describing it as "minor issues of thought processes and leadership" that will be ironed out. It learnt that the party was dealing with the Punjab problem with the intervention at a higher level. The view in the party is that while there is no question that Singh is the most prominent face of Congress in Punjab, he should not be taking the confrontation to "a point of no return" as the party high command will look like knuckling under pressure if his insistence for immediate ouster of Bajwa as PCC chief was accepted.
The leader said that the party expects that both Bajwa and Singh resolve the issue together. There is also a likelihood of some third person being made the PCC chief while Amarinder being assured the post of the party's Campaign Committee Chief and face for the Assembly elections due in 2017. "It all depends on how things pan out in the coming days," the leader viewed.
Singh had on Sunday rallied his supporters, including most of MLAs, and announced the start of the party's campaign to take on ruling Akali-BJP with a January 22 rally at the luncheon meet in which his bete noire Bajwa was absent. Bajwa later said he welcomed the "belated initiative" by Singh aimed at taking on SAD-BJP alliance with a rally on January 22 at Amritsar but clarified that the event would be held under the party's umbrella. The show of strength in Punjab had came days after Amarinder met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and was understood to have sought removal of Bajwa as PCC chief.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}