M A I N   N E W S

Amarinder to keep his coterie ‘in check’ this time
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 15
It seems a case of once bitten twice shy for former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Eight months into his second innings as Punjab Congress president, Amarinder has formed a new team with former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna as its pivot, but claims this coterie will not be allowed to ‘transgress’.

Capt Amarinder had invited a lot of criticism during his earlier stint as Chief Minister because of his coterie which was accused of virtually making him inaccessible, even to his ministerial colleagues.

Amarinder says if he gets another chance at the helm of affairs, he will “stringently” watch that none from his core team oversteps the bounds. “Not that I am admitting this happened earlier, but common perception is that it did”, he told TNS.

Arvind Khanna is perceived to be the closest to Amarinder. Though his detractors say this is because he is spending his vast resources to further the cause of the PPCC president, their association, in fact, has been a long one. The two are distantly related. Arvind facilitates access to Amarinder but in a departure from the past, there is an open-door policy with senior leaders having easy access to the former CM. Arvind has created his own sub-team, which works behind the scenes collating data on various issues for Amarinder’s use.

He has accordingly been given appropriate importance in the party, having been appointed secretary, incharge of the Pradesh Congress office.

While Arvind is someone who enjoys Amarinder’s trust, the latter is increasingly relying on former minister Lal Singh to handle political affairs. Lal Singh, also from Patiala, is known for his political acumen and has emerged as one of the top leaders in every Congress dispensation.This time too he has been appointed vice- president incharge of the party office, despite being a dyed-in-the-wool Congress man and not a PPCC chief loyalist.

Also on the new team is former IAF pilot and friend GS Jawanda, who is a claimant to the party ticket from Dhuri. Jawanda was denied the SAD ticket from Dhuri in 1997. He is someone Amarinder can rely upon for feedback.

Former merchant navy officer Capt Sandeep Sandhu is also a member of the PPCC president’s core team. He has a role in the PPCC office and is responsible for IT initiatives, collating political database and election analysis.

Amarinder has two persons designated as officers on special duty (OSDs). One of them, Major Amardeep, is always by his side while the other, Karanpal Sekhon, has been more visible only recently.

Sekhon, who is responsible for coordinating appointments, is from a Patiala family associated with the erstwhile royal house since generations.