Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa is under fire from his party colleagues over the recently released list of office-bearers of the Pradesh Congress Committee. The list is long,its 320 names being over three times the 102 in the original list,but that has still not been enough to satisfy everyone. Bajwa has been facing a new revolt practically every day from Congressmen in Nawashahar,Kharar,Mohali and Ropar. With many now threatening to resign their posts or seeking appointments with the party high command,this is not good news for the Congress just a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Cancer centre Prime MinisteR Manmohan Singh was in Punjab this week to lay the foundation stone for the Rs-450-crore Homi Bhaba Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. The centre is being built by the Department of Atomic Energy on 50 acres of land given by the state government in Mullanpur,recently rechristened New Chandigarh. The highlight of the ceremony was the prime minister delivering his speech in Punjabi. Amid a tussle for credit for getting a central government project to the SAD-BJP-ruled state,the PMO ensured the ceremony was kept low-key though Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had wanted a mega show. Mega investment The Progressive Punjab Investors Summit,which saw the chief minister and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal rubbing shoulders with the whos who of Indian industry,turned out to be a spectacular event. The state claimed to have pulled in investment worth Rs 65,000 crore during the two days of the event with over 100 memorandums of understanding signed between the government and various companies. The CM,however,was the first to point out the possibility of the MOUs remaining on paper. He has directed his son to follow up with the companies and make sure the MoUs turn into memorandums of commitment. Punjab to Punjab A visit by Shahbaz Sharif,chief minister of Pakistans Punjab,on the invitation of the Badals struck all the right notes for Indo-Pak friendship. More importantly,it dispelled any doubt that may have been created following Nawaz Sharifs statement on Kashmir,made before the visit. Amid the gaiety of a host of official functions,his visit to his ancestral village moved him to tears. The warmth of the visit was a pointer to the possible role that state governments on either side can play in diplomacy. Reflecting this was the joint statement officially issued by the two chief ministers,possibly for the first time in Indo-Pak history. Fast that succeeded The one man who made news all of last month was Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa,who fasted for 40 days to force the government to release Sikh militants from jails across the country. These militants had,according to Gurbaksh Singh,completed their sentences but been denied parole and also any opportunity for remission. While Gurbaksh succeeded in getting four of the six prisoners released on parole before breaking his fast,the government succeeded in keeping the situation from going out of control. It roped in the SGPC before various Sikh radical groups could come together and take up the cause. Chitleen K Sethi
