Chandigarh, January 13
The ongoing tussle within the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has left the party cadres confused. It has shifted the focus from the involvement of senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders and a sitting minister in illicit drug trade to the stark division within the party.

PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh have taken opposing stands on who should investigate the illicit drug trade in Punjab. Bajwa, however, denied that there was any confusion in the party and instead blamed the “dirty tricks department of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for deviating from the issue of political patronage to drug smugglers by senior Akali leaders to creating this difference within the party”. “Let the issue of handing over the probe to the CBI go into the public domain and let the public decide,” he said.

Announcing the party’s action plan, Bajwa said that they would launch a protest demanding a CBI probe in the drug racket from January 16. “We will go for a ‘chakka jam’ for two hours (12 noon to 2 pm) on January 16. From January 19, two Congress MLAs and 22 party workers will sit on a hunger strike daily at the Congress Bhawan here,” he said. However, even this protest seems to have been toned down because of the tussle within the party. The earlier plan to gherao the Chief Minister’s residence has now been withdrawn, though Bajwa insisted it had been done as it would be difficult to manage so many agitations because of financial burden on the party.

“The AICC and the PPCC have been demanding a CBI probe because the investigation could extend beyond Punjab. A probe by the CBI would also rule out any chances of exonerating the powerful Akali leaders who are allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade. But of course, everyone is entitled to his opinion on the matter,” Bajwa said when questioned about Capt Amarinder’s stand that the probe should not be handed over to the CBI.

“Hundreds of Congress leaders have been falsely implicated in court cases by the Akali government and these leaders, who are now giving a clean chit to the Punjab Police, have themselves been questioning its integrity.”

The disagreement among top leaders has robbed the state Congress of a major issue on which it could take on the SAD-BJP government head on, especially after the alleged drug kingpin Jagdish Singh Bhola accused three Akali ministers of being involved in the drug racket and had even named Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia of being linked with the racket.

The confusion in the party cadres came up for discussion during the “closed-door” meeting of the newly elected office-bearers of the PPCC held here today.

Sources told The Tribune that Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, criticised both the leaders for expressing their opinions publicly and creating confusion among the party ranks.

“If Capt Amarinder gives a statement, Bajwa takes the opposite stand and vice versa. Their difference of opinion is being aired in the media. If the two leaders differ on some issues, it should be taken up within the party and not outside. We should be fighting against the Akalis, but it seems the party leaders are busy fighting one another,” he said.

Randhawa said that the persons most affected due to the tussle in the party and because of the party’s inability to take on the government were the party leaders and workers from the Majha region.

Addressing the party president, Randhawa reportedly said that workers from Majha were being framed in false cases and were left to fend for themselves.