Bhattal attributes victory to Sonia not Amarinder

She asserted that it was no mean achievement for her that no Congress worker had left the party even after the party lost in the assembly elections in the state. She had managed to keep her flock of Congressmen together even at that time of crisis.

However, it was a different matter now as there was an anti-Akali Dal wave and a pro-Sonia Gandhi wave. People had got disenchanted with the Akali Dal for its failure to fullfil its pre-poll promises. With Sonia Gandhi at the helm of affairs of the party, it was altogether a different scene now.

Bhattal sought to dismiss as baseless, suggestions that Sonia Gandhi was annoyed with her for having overstayed abroad where she had gone at the invitation of the overseas Congress.

Refuting these reports, which had quoted Amarinder Singh as saying that Sonia Gandhi was annoyed with her because she had not kept her word to return to the country within one month, Bhattal said she had personally met Sonia Gandhi on her return from abroad on November 25 and spent 26 minutes with her and apprised her of her observations during her foreign tour.

“It would soon be known whether Sonia Gandhi is annoyed with me or not,” she quipped.

Regarding her tour of Jabalpur after her return from abroad, Bhattal said she had been deputed there by the party high command for electioneering and it was not a trip that she undertook of her own as stated by Amarinder Singh.

Asked what role she envisaged for herself in the party after having been replaced as CLP leader, Bhattal said she was a disciplined soldier of the party and would gladly take up any assignment that the high command gave her.

On her future line of action, Bhattal said she would continue her mass contact drive and have close interaction with partymen at the grassroot level.

Bhattal was here in connection with the bhog ceremony organised in memory of veteran freedom fighter Inder Singh Inder. Several former Congress MLAs from Patiala district including Brij Lal Goyal, Raj Khurana and Hamir Singh Ghagga were also present on the occasion. Also present were a number of district Congress leaders besides Maharani Praneet Kaur, wife of Amarinder Singh.