Now, panel to discipline Punjab Congress

Friday, 10/01/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=91576&boxid=62775&uid=&dat=2014-01-10

Chandigarh : Two days after constituting a grievances removal panel in a bid to tackle resentment in Punjab Congress, the party high command on Thursday came out with a disciplinary committee to take note of indiscipline, which had gone out of control following a spate of resignations by party legislators and senior leaders from the reconstituted Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), headed by Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa, whom his detractors had labelled as ‘arrogant’ and running the PPCC as ‘Partap Singh Bajwa Pvt Ltd Company.’

Concerned and worried over the turn of events ever since it announced the recast jumbo PPCC on December 27 last, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) formed a five-member disciplinary committee, headed by its former MLA and senior lawyer Gopal Krishan Chathrath.

In no end to the ‘never-seen-before’ woes of Bajwa, one of his detractors Gurkanwal Kaur, a former MLA from Jalandhar, was also among the members of the committee. Other members are former deputy speaker Jaswant Singh, former MLA Bhag Singh and former Punjab Youth Congress president Rana Varinder Singh.

Gurkanwal, daughter of slain chief minister Beant Singh was among those miffed over denial of any office in the new PPCC. Hitting out at Bajwa for ‘ignoring’ her despite the fact that she was a former legislator and member of the Beant Singh family, the firebrand leader had gone to extent of threatening fast-unto-death.

Accusing Bajwa of adopting a ‘pick and choose’ policy in reconstituting the PPCC, Gurkanwal had also blamed the PPCC chief for ‘promoting his own family’ and ‘ignoring those, who served the state in the past.’ “Bajwa did not take Congress leaders into confidence, instead promoted turncoats like Jagbir Singh Brar,” she said.

Ignoring all such facts and instead in a bid to silence such elements, AICC general secretary and in charge of party affairs in Punjab Shakeel Ahmad ordered the constitution of a disciplinary committee, comprising those who had breached the party discipline.

“A disciplinary committee for Punjab state has been constituted by the AICC under the chairmanship of Gopal Krishan Chathrath, former MLA,” Ahmad said in an official order, a copy of which is with Daily Post.

Earlier, in the four-member grievances removal committee, headed by Jalandhar MP and Special Invitee to CWC Mohinder Singh Kaypee, those believed to be ‘upset’ and ‘not convinced’ with the reformation of PPCC were assigned to hear the grievances of disgruntled elements within the party and submit report to the AICC within a month.