The Congress rally held in Sangrur on Thursday was an occasion to convey that the party in Punjab is a united front to take on Akali Dal in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Instead, the rally has exposed the widening fissures within the party. Not only that, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi left the rally with a bitter taste of factionalism within the party. Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said, “I will not comment. You can see for yourself what happened at the Sangrur rally, the party vice president Rahul Gandhi and high command was there and they saw (it).”
Congress in Punjab is facing a few cruel questions. Would the present Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa be able to steer and clear the party of factionalism? Will the Congress high-command discipline the Punjab unit? Will it be a strong opponent to the SAD-BJP combine during the polls?
In a significant political development, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi has constituted a Coordination Committee for Punjab Congress with immediate effect headed by general secretary in-charge Shakeel Ahmed. The name of CWC member and former CM Captain Amarinder has not been included in the list. The letter constituting the committee has been signed by Janardan Dwivedi MP, General Secretary AICC on October 11, 2013.
Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “The high command will have to take a strict action again indiscipline. Nobody can speak against the state unit president and be allowed to walk away. The coordination committee which has been formed is a routine matter.’’
The other members of the committee are CLP leader Sunil Jakhar, AICC Secretary Incharge Harish Chaudhary, Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Lal Singh. Jakhar denied to comment on the issue. Committee members include General Secretary In charge Punjab Affairs Shakeel Ahmed with PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa as its convenor. Political observers feel that the step has been necessitated owing to the growing rift between senior leaders of Punjab Congress. In March this year, Amarinder Singh was replaced with Bajwa as the Punjab Congress President. A senior party leader and three-time MLA Sunil Jakhar was appointed a leader of opposition replacing Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. This move has widened the fissures further and the party has got divided into three factions. Amarinder felt his image got a boost with Jhakar joining as CLP leader. Bhattal was totally grounded. Bajwa was facing opposition from not one, not two, but three sides. Within a few days of Bajwa’s appointment, a controversy was raked about his links with terrorists. Another controversy which surrounded Bajwa was appointment of his close aides as office bearers of the state congress. The high command intervened and cancelled all the appointments. This sent out the message that Bajwa was not powerful at all.
On the other hand, Amarinder Singh’s frustration became evident while he was addressing the Sangrur rally. He did not deliberately mention the name of Bajwa and local MP Vijay Inder Singla (once his protégé). Bajwa, in his speech not only publicly snubbed Amarinder for his deliberate ‘lapse’ but also for his critical remarks about ruling SAD-BJP collation.
Here, Bajwa’s remark that the unity in the party was the first priority indicated that all is not well within the party. A few party leaders on condition of anonymity said that the infighting among Bajwa and Amarinder was visible even in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, which could have been avoided. A senior congress leader said, “Due to factionalism, the party lost the last year’s assembly elections. If this continues, with the party being a divided house in the state, Punjab people will not vote for us in spite of the fact that they are fed-up with the ruling SAD-BJP combine.”