Congress split wide open

The PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh’s attempt to stem the resentment among the old timers left out of the committee by sending a fresh list of 17 names has further deepened the crisis. Several senior leaders have taken umbrage to Singh’s ‘unilateral decision’ and have asked the party in-charge Gulchain Singh Charak that the selection of the names be done through a wider consensus.

One of the prominent leaders to raise objection to the list of names forwarded by the former chief minister Gurdaspur parliamentarian Pratap Singh Bajwa. He has expressed reservation over inclusion of the names of persons from his constituency.

“In the tentative list of 17 sent by Capt Singh,there are names of people who worked against me during the parliamentary elections of 2009. Those who ensured votes for me have been ignored. What kind of message will this send to people in my constituency? At least the former and sitting MPs should be taken into confidence (while devising the list) as the party can ill-afford to look divided at this juncture,” Bajwa said.

He added that the new list,instead of bring the controversy to an end,will only fuel it. “Those whose name didn’t figure in the first list will feel aggrieved at being left out again. This is not going to end till the elections,” Bajwa said.

Several senior leaders have already rushed to New Delhi to demand a wider consensus on the new list. “We are an election-bound state. Infighting can prove detrimental for the party and we want to meet party president Sonia Gandhi to demand that senior leaders,MPs and union ministers be taken into confidence before the new names are announced. Political greenhorns should be made to work for the party before being appointed to the state commitee,” said MM Cheema,permanent invitee to PPCC.

Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar too would meet Charak to demand that the new names for PPCC should not be “the prerogative of just Capt Singh and Congress Legislative Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal”.

‘No diffrences between AICC,state unit’

Congress in-charge for Punjab,Gulchain Singh Charak,on Monday refuted reports appearing in a section of media and attributed to him on the issue of 1984 riots. In statement issued here,Charak said: “It (riots in 1984) was a dark phase and a black spot in country’s secular history. The matter is sub-judice and it should not be politicised”.

There are no differences on any issue between the All India Congress Committee and its Punjab unit,he added.