Bajwa's first Patiala meeting sans Capt Amarinder
Tuesday, 02/03/2013
http://punjabnewsline.com/news/Bajwa_s-first-Patiala-meeting-sans-Capt-Amarinder.html
PATIALA: Capt Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder Singh today remained conspicuous by their absence from the party meeting convened to accord welcome to the newly elected Punjab Pradesh Congress Committe president Partap Singh Bajwa on his first visit to the royal city.
Laal Singh, senior Congress leader in the state, said when he called Capt Amarinder as he was away to Delhi, the former party chief told him that "he was not invited for today's meet".
He questioned the absence of former PPCC chief saying, "It is our duty to keep party united, but the meeting has been organised at Patiala and the Assembly segment represented by Amarinder is not present". He added that it was his (Amarinder's) duty to be present in the meeting with son Raninder Singh.
Meanwhile, pointing finger towards Preneet Kaur, local MP and wife of Capt Amarinder, who was present at the dais alongwith PCC chief Bajwa, Singh questioned,"Maharani Sahiba, you are the in-charge of this workers meet and it was your duty to inform and invite Amarinder about it".
Singh said that Congress workers would get a "wrong signal from it that the party was divided".
On the defeat of Congress in the Punjab polls, when Amarinder was at the helm of affairs, Singh said that even though the party has been experiencing hardship due to some "mistakes", we cannot ignore him by not informing about the meeting.
Later, Bajwa and Punjab Congress vice president Charanjeet Singh Channi, who is also in-charge for Patiala zone, said that Amarinder was informed much earlier about the meeting. Channi said that he himself informed Amarinder about the visit of Bajwa and workers meet.
With the fissures coming to the fore early on in his new role as party chief, Bajwa faces a challenge of not just leading the party from the front but also of creating a sense of unity in the party.
The two leaders, Capt Amarinder and Bajwa, had, however, been together at the latter's coronation ceremony held at the Punjab Congress headquarters in Chandigarh on March 23.
