M A I N   N E W S

Daggers drawn in Cong as Bajwa left out of Preneet’s swearing in
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 29
The "oust Bajwa" campaign in the Punjab Congress gathered momentum today at the oath-taking ceremony of Patiala MLA Preneet Kaur. As a large number of party MLAs and Congress leaders were present at the function, state Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa was not invited.

While the oath-taking ceremony turned out to be former CM Capt Amarinder Singh's show of strength, Bajwa tried to show his grip over the state unit by meeting Congress' district in-charges, district presidents, office-bearers and in-charges of frontal organisations later in the evening. A media release said the meeting was attended by heads of all state units, besides AICC secretary Harish Chaudhary and MLAs Brahm Mohindra, Randeep Nabha and Kuljit Singh Nagra.

At the function, Capt Amarinder, who is a contender for the PPCC post, minced no words against Bajwa. When asked why Bajwa was missing from the function, he said he had invited his friends and supporters. "Bajwa is neither my sathi (friend) nor my supporter," he said.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar said he had invited party MLAs. Capt Amarinder wanted to invite only those who stood by Preneet Kaur in her election campaign, said Jakhar. No Congress leader was seen upset with Bajwa's absence from the function. Sunil Jakhar, however, said Bjawa's wife and MLA Charanjit Kaur Bajwa could not attend the function as she was busy with her daughter's exams. During the function, Capt Amarinder said he had aired his views against the state Congress chief to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi two days ago. Already, a number of MLAs have reportedly urged the party high command to remove Bajwa, who was appointed as the PPCC chief when the Congress lost the 2012 Assembly elections under Capt Amarinder Singh.

Talking to mediapersons after Speaker Charanjit Atwal administered the oath of secrecy to Preneet Kaur, Capt Amarinder predicted revival of the state Congress. "Today's oath-taking ceremony was a new beginning and I will ensure that the state Assembly has more Congress MLAs in 2017," he said.