PATIALA, Nov 5 — Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) President Capt Amarinder Singh, to pave the way for his smooth election as President of the PPCC in the organisational elections being held shortly, has invited all delegates of the state unit to a luncheon meeting on November 7.

According to sources, all 209 delegates nominated to the PPCC in a recent exercise have been invited to the lunch meeting being held at the New Moti Bagh Palace residence of Capt Amarinder.

His loyalists are undertaking the exercise in a bid to further smoothen ruffled feathers and ensure that all major groups in the Pradesh Congress ‘unanimously’ elect Capt Amarinder as the PPCC chief.

Sources said the attendance at the meeting would also serve as a barometer of the support enjoyed by the PPCC chief within the party. His loyalists say the PPCC chief has had a say in the ‘election’ of the delegates. And as many as 160 of the 209 delegates owe allegiance to Capt Amarinder.

It is to be seen whether Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar, Mr R.L. Bhatia, Mr Balram Jakhar, Ms Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder and a group of family members of former Chief Minister Beant Singh in the Pradesh Congress will oblige Capt Amarinder by attending the luncheon meeting. Sources close to these leaders said though Capt Amarinder had included a sizeable number of loyalists among the ‘newly elected’ PPCC delegates, the groups against him had also been able to “squeeze” in their members and they could pose a formidable challenge to him if they united against him.

Dissidents in the Pradesh Congress have been keeping a low profile after the ‘election’ of the PPCC delegates and are gauging their strength among the PPCC delegates, besides holding talks with one another on the course of action to be adopted by them. The sources said the dissidents felt the combined strength of the groups opposing Capt Amarinder was 80-100.

The Amarinder loyalists, however, hope that the sharp differences among various leaders who are opposed to the PPCC chief will hamper any unity move against Capt Amarinder. Hence, the latter would not have any difficulty in getting elected to the top post in the state unit.

Capt Amarinder, when questioned about the luncheon meeting here today, said it was a personal meeting organised to meet the PPCC delegates who would elect the next PPCC President. He announced that senior Congress leaders who had taken active part in organisational elections and could not be elected due to limited representation would be invited to join the PPCC in various capacities if he was elected President of the unit.

The PPCC President demanded a “white paper” on the “mismanagement in the procurement of paddy” in the state. He said it was tragic that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had left for a foreign trip without formulating a farm policy so that the farmers did not suffer a worse future during the wheat procurement season six months hence.