Navjot Sidhu protests power crunch in Rajpura, most Congress leaders stay away

Rajpura, April 25

Fissures within the state Congress came to the fore with a majority of the MLAs and newly appointed Punjab Pradesh Congress office-bearers staying away from the dharna organised by Rajpura ex-MLA Hardyal Kamboj against “power cuts and other issues”. The dharna was addressed by PCC ex-chief Navjot Sidhu where a few Congress leaders attended the event, even as majority of the senior ones skipped it.

Even Patiala Congress leaders feigned ignorance about the event and said it was not organised by the party. On Sunday, PCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had said he was not aware of the dharna. Mohit Mohindra, who lost the recent polls from Patiala (Rural), said: “I was not invited. It was not a party organised dharna.”

Skipped it as party prez wasn’t invited

I don’t know if it was a dharna organised by an individual or the party. No one informed me. When the party president wasn’t invited, there was no point attending it. —Madan Lal Jalalpur, Ex-MLA

Former Congress MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman, who was expelled from the primary membership of the party for the alleged anti-party activities, was present along with Sidhu. Meanwhile former MLAs, Ashwani Sekhri, Navtej Singh Cheema, Najar Singh Mansahia and Sukhwinder Singh Kaka Kambhoj were also present.

Addressing party workers at the Nabha Thermal Plant at Rajpura, Sidhu questioned CM Bhagwant Mann on the issue of “failed promises”.

“Many parts of the state are facing long power cuts and, that too, when the power demand is around 7000 MW. The Punjab Government will fail consumers during the paddy season when the demand is over 14,000 MW,” he said. “In their first promise of free units to the residents, the AAP government now has put a rider of 300 units a month. It has even failed to regularise services of contract employees,” he said.

The event, seen as a show of strength by Sidhu, directly attacked the CM on the issue of rising sand prices and no roadmap to increase income of the state despite announcing various freebies in the run-up to the polls.