Captain gets Critic No. 1 as his Deputy

As part of a ‘‘compromise formula’’ to resolve the over month-long crisis in its Punjab unit, the Congress today appoint...

As part of a ‘‘compromise formula’’ to resolve the over month-long crisis in its Punjab unit, the Congress today appointed dissident leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal as the state’s new deputy chief minister.

Announcing this decision, Mohsina Kidwai, the AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab, said Cabinet expansion would be undertaken in the state very soon to accommodate more party MLAs. The Punjab PCC is also likely to be restructured.

Speaking soon after the AICC’s announcement, Bhattal, who first claimed ignorance of the day’s development, said: ‘‘We only demanded a change of chief minister. But because of early general elections, and keeping in mind the need for unity in the party ranks, the party high command has decided that it would be wrong to make any changes. This (the deputy chief minister’s post) was not our demand but it is agreeable to us.’’ Bhattal will retain her present portfolios of agriculture and rural development.

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Declining to comment on whether she was happy with the deputy chief ministership, Bhattal said: ‘‘We had left everything to the party president and said her decision would be final for us. She has decided this for me and I have no problems with it.’’

She added: ‘‘I had no problems when, even as a former chief minister, I was made just a minister (in the present ministry). And now when the media tells me that I have been promoted to deputy chief minister, I have no problems with that either.’’

However, the few Punjab Congress dissidents who were in the Capital today refused to accept this as the final settlement.

Meanwhile, Kidwai stated that there was ‘‘no time limit’’ for the compromise formula, stressing that this was a ‘‘strategy specific to Punjab’’. Replying to a question on whether Bhattal’s appointment would lead to a similar demand in other Congress-ruled states like Kerala, she said: ‘‘We are not happy with whatever happened in Punjab. But it is not going to be a general strategy for other states.’’

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Addressing a press conference, she said: ‘‘Despite the pressure from Akalis, Congressmen in the state have stayed together. Inside a family, these small problems always arise.’’ However, she clarified that Bhattal had never demanded to be made the deputy chief minister. Supported by 33 of the total 64 Congress MLAs in Punjab, Bhattal had come to the Capital last month demanding removal of Capt Amarinder Singh as chief minister.

During the day-long meetings of the 64 Punjab Congress MLAs with the AICC panel headed by Pranab Mukherjee yesterday, the dissidents were reportedly told that changing a chief minister just before the Lok Sabha polls would lead to similar demands elsewhere.

In Kerala too, K. Karunakaran has been at the forefront of a demand in the PCC for the dismissal of Chief Minister A.K. Antony.

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