New Delhi, July 29
Mr H.S. Hanspal, secretary of the AICC media department, has emerged as the front-runner for the post of PCC president in Punjab.
AICC sources said Mr Hanspal had emerged as the first choice for the post following hectic lobbying by supporters of Capt Amarinder Singh that the PCC chief should be a confidant of the Chief Minister for smooth functioning of the government. Mr Hanspal was closely associated with the party election campaign in the last assembly elections.
Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo and Mr Virender Kataria were the other names being considered by the high command for the top party post in the state. While supporters of the Chief Minister opposed the candidature of Mr Dullo, they were lukewarm to the candidature of Mr Kataria.
Apart from Mr Hanspal, the supporters of Chief Minister had also suggested as names of Mr Gurmail Singh and Mr Sant Ram Singla for the post.
There was some consternation among the supporters of the Chief Minister after the name of Mr R.L. Bhatia emerged as a possible choice for the PCC chief in the past few days. Several ministers and party MLAs met high command leaders last week to emphasise that the PCC chief should be a man of the Chief Minister’s choice.
