In Punjab Cong, knives out again

In the wake of the Congress’ poll debacle in Punjab, differences between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and senior party leader Rajinde...

In the wake of the Congress’ poll debacle in Punjab, differences between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and senior party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal have resurfaced with a vengeance.

Both leaders are in Delhi and met Congress president Sonia Gandhi today. But officially, for the moment, both the leaders are playing safe and only maintaining that they have ‘‘expressed their opinions to Sonia.’’

The axe could fall equally on both Bhattal and Singh, and if the party high command is looking for alternatives for chief ministership, Bhattal may not be the natural choice. While the party leadership is saying that they are ‘‘only assessing the situation’’ to see if a change is necessary, it is rumoured that a senior party leader like Ambika Soni could be despatched to the state.

When she meets Sonia, Bhattal is expected to give a list of reasons for why the Congress won only two out of the 13 seats. It is learnt that most of Bhattal’s grievances were aimed at the way the chief minister had alienated not just the party workers with his autocratic style of functioning.

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