Punjab elections: Moga rally put off as Rahul goes abroad, disquiet in state Congress

“Rahul Gandhi is on a brief personal visit. The BJP and its media friends should not spread rumours unnecessarily,” Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala said, confirming that the former Congress president was abroad.

Party sources said on Thursday that Rahul, who spent nearly three weeks at an undisclosed foreign location in November as well, is now expected to address the rallies in Punjab and Goa on January 15 and 16.

Rahul’s trip abroad has led to disquiet in the Punjab unit of Congress as it comes at a time when the party is struggling with factionalism and desertions in the run-up to the Assembly elections. The Moga rally was expected to be a show of unity, said a state party leader who did not want to be named.

The party had already started making arrangements for the rally, and the venue had been finalised, said state leaders. “We did not even know that he has gone abroad. We learnt about it only after the Opposition raised the issue and Surjewala defended the visit,” said a leader.

“The rally has been postponed now. We were hoping that Rahul will be able to bring Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and other leaders on the same stage and the different voices, which are harming the party interests, would be silenced. Also, his (Rahul) absence delays the process of ticket distribution,” he said.

While Sidhu has been seeking declaration of Chief Minister candidate ahead of the polls, asserting that he would not be just a showpiece for the elections, a section of party leaders said they were watching him closely. “We do not know if he is also headed towards another party. But he is making it clear that he would not campaign for the party unless he is declared the CM candidate,” a leader said.

Adding to the trouble for the state unit, Cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh on Thursday took on Sidhu. “I challenge him to deny me the party ticket. I will win as an Independent,” he said. He said he was shocked that the fight was currently not about getting the Congress to retain power in the state but about who becomes the Chief Minister.

A party leader said, “We were only hoping that the top leadership would intervene and control Sidhu. But it seems to be free for all now. We used to criticise former chief minister Amarinder Singh for holidaying and being inaccessible but what is Rahul doing now?”

Apart from factionalism, the Congress is dealing with aggressive poaching of its leaders by the BJP. The party recently lost three sitting MLAs to the BJP. On Thursday, a senior leader from Majitha, Sukhjinder Raj Singh, resigned from the post of PUNGRAIN chairman, saying he was miffed with the Channi government for not delivering justice in the Bargari sacrilege case. He may join the BJP or AAP, sources said.

Another worrying news for the Congress has come from Ludhiana where state Cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has put up his billboards without the party symbol or any other Congress leader’s photograph.