Mohali: Congress plays safe by appointing sitting MLA’s men to top positions

With the appointment of the District Congress Committee (DCC) president and two working presidents, the Congress has tried to appease its only MLA in the district Balbir Singh Sidhu. Sidhu managed to get his men on the top posts in the district despite the speculations that he was not happy with the present set up of the state unit of the party. Rishab Jain, who was appointed president of the DCC on Monday, is now said to be ‘happy’ with his appointment. He was close to Sidhu, but, during the civic body elections held earlier this year, differences emerged between both the leaders.

Jain is a former Senior Deputy Mayor and he was the front-runner of the mayoral post but Sidhu’s younger brother Amarjeet Singh Sidhu was made the mayor and to appease Jain, Sidhu had also offered 2.5 year term for both Jain and his brother. “There were differences between both the leaders after the mayor’s elections, there were also rumours that Jain may join hands with others, but with the appointment, everything seems to be alright now,” said a party leader requesting anonymity.

There were also rumours that others, including the former mayor Kulwant Singh, were in touch with Jain and were trying to appease him. The party also appointed Natrajan Kaushan and Jasbir Singh Bhola who are also considered close to Sidhu.

Mohali district has three assembly constituencies which include Mohali, Kharar and Derabassi. Congress managed to win Mohali twice (2012, 2017) but the party failed to win Derabassi. In 2017, the party lost in Kharar as well, which was earlier considered its stronghold. With the appointment of Sidhu’s men at top positions in the district, the party also tried to give the signal that all is well within its system.