Bajwa faces revolt on home turf, Ashwani backs Capt

Thursday, 02/10/2014

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20141002/punjab.htm#13

Gurdaspur :Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa finds himself cornered on his home turf of Gurdaspur with Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) backing former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Ashwani, who claimed he was one of the leaders behind the "oust Bajwa" campaign, had led the movement for removal of Capt Amarinder Singh as PPCC president two years ago. He is now trying to garner support of at least four MLAs of the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency. He will be hosting lunch for them tomorrow.

Although all five area MLAs have been invited, it is certain that Qadian legislator and Bajwa's wife Charanjit Kaur will not be there. All eyes are on Dinanagar MLA Aruna Chowdhury, a staunch Bajwa supporter. There is speculation that she too may skip the lunch.

Already, the PPCC chief is on the back foot after losing his parliamentary seat to BJP’s Vinod Khanna by a huge margin of 1.36 lakh votes. Ashwani's' attempt to cut Bajwa to size is seen yet another effort to isolate him in Gurdaspur constituency that he represented from 2009 till March 2014.

The other three legislators, Tripit Rajinder Singh Bajwa (Fatehgarh Churian), Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Dera Baba Nanak) and Ashwani Sekhri (Batala), are Bajwa's rivals. They are sure to attend the luncheon meeting.

Just before the parliamentary elections, Randhawa had tendered his resignation as Gurdaspur district congress committee chief (DCC) in protest against the PPCC president's working.

His resignation is yet to be accepted by the high command. Ashwani castigated Bajwa, claiming he had no authority to remove block presidents "according to his whims and fancy.

"During Capt Amarinder Singh's tenure as Pradesh Congress president, block presidents were appointed or removed only after the AICC was taken into confidence. I wonder how Bajwa can remove block presidents without the prior approval of AICC leaders," he remarked.

"The Congress high command is aware of what is going on in the state. The AICC will move in the right direction at the right time,” he claimed.

“Bajwa, who is a misfit, has failed to pinpoint organisational weaknesses and this does not augur well for the state Congress," Ashwani said. The MP had invited a select group of people from the Dinanagar Vidhan Sabha constituency to his residence today. This is seen as a significant development by observers.

Luncheon diplomacy

Gurdaspur Rajya Sabha MP Ashwani Kumar is trying to garner support of at least four MLAs

He will be hosting lunch for all five MLAs of Gurdaspur constituency on Thursday

But Qadian legislator and Bajwa’s wife Charanjit Kaur is certain not to be there

All eyes are on Dinanagar MLA Aruna Chowdhury, a staunch Bajwa supporter

There is speculation that she too may skip the luncheon