Amarinder toughens stand against dissident leaders
Monday, 04/03/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130304/punjab.htm#7
Chandigarh : PCC president Capt Amarinder Singh today said the issue of two party MLAs Brahm Mohindra and Randeep Nabha not contributing "anything mentionable" to the party's campaign during the Moga byelection had been brought to the notice of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Toughening his stand against indiscipline in the party, the PCC president said: "Indiscipline of any kind will not be tolerated."
Earlier, Capt Amarinder had issued show-cause notices to three Congress MLAs and a former minister for "not campaigning" in the Moga byelection. These were Patiala Rural MLA Brahm Mohindra, Amloh MLA Randeep Singh, Ludhiana MLA Rakesh Pandey and former Punjab Minister Avtar Henry.
While Brahm, in a letter to Capt Amarinder Singh, has denied that he was given the charge to lead in three booths in Moga, Randeep claimed he had not filed any reply so far. He said: "I will reply by March 5 as required by the show-cause notice".
Sources said Avtar Henry and Rakesh Pandey were yet to reply to the PCC president's notice.
Capt Amarinder said these leaders had been simply asked to explain their absence from the campaigning. "Instead of explaining their position, they tried to divert the issue and raised irrelevant issues in the media," he said.
Amarinder claimed: "Brahm Mohindra was not happy with the area allocated to him in a meeting before the start of the campaign. He cannot say that he had no knowledge about the area allotted to him".
The sources said Randeep had conveyed to the AICC secretary that he would not be able to devote time for campaigning in Moga because of ill-health and family matters. Capt Amarinder said: "Randeep did mention that he was suffering from high blood pressure. But he never told me about the serious illness of his cousin". He said Randeep had no excuse to offer for having involved in a brawl at Chandigarh Golf Course recently.
Capt also denied Mohindra's allegations that he had not campaigned for him during the assembly elections. "Is he trying to justify himself saying he had a personal grievance against me that is why he did not campaign for the party in Moga," he questioned.
