M A I N   N E W S

Punjab Cong crisis: Top leaders call parallel meet
Jangveer Singh/TNS

Chandigarh, April 2
The crisis in the Punjab Congress appears to be reaching a flashpoint. State Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh has called a meeting of party losers in the Assembly elections on April 4. The same day, Central party general secretary Gulchain Singh Charak, too, has called warring leaders to Delhi to stem the factional fighting. The time for both the meetings is 3 pm.

The move is strategic for the Amarinder camp. The Captain’s main detractors among the defeated candidates who have spoken out against him — Sukhpal Khaira and Ripjit Brar — are in a tight spot. It will be difficult for them to defy the directive of the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC). At the same time, they stand to lose a chance to raise their voice at the State party meeting scheduled the same day.

Amarinder has also set his own schedule for meeting the AICC general secretary, asserting his numero uno status in the party. The Pradesh Congress chief said he would go to Delhi on April 5 to meet Charak.

Charak indicated that he had till April 5 to complete the exercise although he did not say when Amarinder would be in Delhi. He said the party had taken recent utterances of senior Punjab Congress leaders seriously.

The Central leader said all those who had let their differences be known in the media had been called for the meeting, due at the AICC office in Delhi. Those who have openly expressed their opinions include Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa, Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha and former MLAs, Sukhpal Khaira and Ripjit Brar.

The AICC general secretary has hinted tough action. Charak said he was clear in his mind that such a state of affairs could not be allowed to continue. He is slated to submit his report to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi after the two-day exercise. The Amarinder camp hopes Captain’s detractors would be taken to task for conducting an orchestrated campaign against his leadership.

Party leaders, who have challenged Amarinder’s leadership such as Khaira and Ripjit Brar, said they would talk to the high command before taking a final decision. They may ask for postponing the AICC meeting so that there was enough time with the Central leaders to hear out all viewpoints. This could be possible if there was a genuine attempt for rapprochement in the State unit, they said.

Recent developments suggest that Amarinder is trying hard to regain his hold over the state Congress. He has already met all MLAs and district presidents without attracting any criticism.

‘will act tough’