No move to replace Bajwa, Jakhar: AICC - Punjab Congress to start district-level protests against power cuts from July 23

Wednesday, 16/07/2014

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140716/punjab.htm#7

Chandigarh : The Congress high command feels that “all is well” in the Punjab Congress and has asserted that there was no move to change either Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Partap Singh Bajwa or Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Sunil Jakhar.

In his bid to play down the leadership issue, All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders, including Punjab affairs in charge Shakeel Ahmed and Harish Chaudhary, said there was no such problem in the party.

“There is no proposal to change Bajwa or Jakhar. We have talked to MLAs who were making such a demand. The matter has been sorted out. There has been no statement seeking leadership change from any quarters for the past 15-20 days,” said Ahmed.

To a query that MLAs seen close to former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh were opposing Bajwa and were pressing the high command to replace him, Ahmed quipped, “Bajwa is a good leader. He is the president. Amarinder is also a senior leader and so is former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. There is no dearth of good leaders in the Punjab unit.”

On the notices issued to MLAs Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Kewal Dhillon for allegedly opposing Bajwa, he said, “I have spoken to them. They were here to attend the meeting today. There is no problem now.”

The Congress also ridiculed the SAD’s “power surplus Punjab” promise and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s rhetoric to export power to Pakistan. The party said it would hold protests at the district level from July 23 to oppose the cuts being imposed on the domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors.

Seeking a CBI probe into the drug menace, the PPCC said it would approach the Supreme Court as only small peddlers or consumers were being nailed by the police whereas “no action had been taken against the big fish”.

Bajwa chided Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal for their claims on the power situation: “It is ironic that the PSPCL announced power cuts the same day when a full page advertisement was inserted in newspapers claiming Punjab as being a power-surplus state.” He demanded that the farmers affected by drought should be given a relief of Rs 5,000 per acre.

The Congress leaders also hit out at the government for allegedly failing to secure anything from the Centre in the Union Budget. “The BJP government has not done anything about the mounting debt of Punjab, which has already crossed Rs 1 lakh crore,” they alleged.

It is ironic that the PSPCL announced power cuts the same day when a full page advertisement was inserted in newspapers claiming Punjab as being a power-surplus state. The farmers affected by drought should be given a relief of Rs 5,000 per acre… The NDA government has not done anything about the mounting debt of Punjab, which has already crossed Rs 1 lakh crore