Congress faction says Bajwa ‘hijacked’ meet with Rahul

A faction of Congress in Ludhiana alleged that that PPCC chief Pratap Singh Bajwa deliberately hijacked the meeting and did not allow them to speak.

AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi with Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa at the Congress Bhawan in Sector 15, Chandigarh, on Thursday. (Express photo by Sumit Malhotra)

A faction of the Ludhiana Congress was left fuming after party vice-president Rahul Gandhi met party leaders in Chandigarh Thursday. They alleged that that PPCC chief Pratap Singh Bajwa deliberately hijacked the meeting and did not allow them to speak.
The faction has been upset since Pawan Dewan, a loyalist of former Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari, was ousted as district president urban on charges of indiscipline and issued a showcause notice for speaking against Bajwa, They said that today’s meeting was pre-planned and they were not allowed to show Rahul ‘the real picture of the Ludhiana Congress’.

The party in Ludhiana is presently divided into two camps. While MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu backed by Bajwa are supporting the appointment of Gurpreet Gogi as the new district president urban; Dewan, a loyalist of Tewari and Captain Amarinder Singh, has come out openly against the party high command for replacing him.

Baljinder Singh Bunty, block president, West-1, said, “We went there to highlight what is happening in the Punjab Congress under Bajwa. Rahul had said that tickets would be distributed after consultation with block presidents who work at grassroots. But here, even a district president is replaced without consulting block heads. We were not given a chance to speak.” Three other block presidents Rakesh Sharma, Palwinder Singh and Satwinder Singh reiterated the same views.

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Gogi, however, said, “All block presidents are in my favor and I will work in coordination with them for the 2017 Assembly polls. Dewan was given the post by former PPCC chief Amarinder and now, when his term was over, Sonia Gandhi chose me, which none can question,” he told The Indian Express.

Cong a private company: Dewan

Pawan Dewan, who has replied to the showcause notice against him, said, “I am still a delegate of the Punjab Congress but was not invited for the meeting with Rahul Gandhi. This shows that Bajwa owns a Congress private limited company. Others were not even given to chance to represent their views in front of Rahul.” He added, “No notice was issued to people giving statements against Amarinder Singh for years. I spoke against Bajwa and a notice reached within two hours.”

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