Cong takes the baton from Bains brothers
Saturday, 13/06/2015
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LUDHIANA: Taking over the baton from independent MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains who initiated open protests against the SAD-BJP government, the district unit of Congress has got into an aggressive mode to regain the lost glory of the party.
MP Ravneet Singh Bittu who had managed to win the elections with a thumping majority in 2014 has become the face of the party by courting arrests.
Interestingly, Bittu in the past six months was stamped as one from the “Partap Singh Bajwa group”due to his unequivocal support to the Punjab Congress president and was in the firing line of the group led by former district Congress committee (DCC) chief Pawan Dewan.
The district congress has witnessed a huge divide ever since the removal of Pawan Dewan from the post of the DCC president by Bajwa in November 2014. More than 48 Congressmen had resigned from the party as a mark of protest against it.
The appointment of Gurpreet Singh Gogi as the DCC president was and still is unacceptable to a large faction of the party.
Bittu has tried to neutralise his position in past few weeks as he took to massive dharna followed by arrests of hundreds of Congressmen. However, some Congressmen strongly criticised him for widening the divide in the party in Ludhiana.
“Bittu is working for his personal gains as he has his eyes on the post of state Congress president and instead of emphasising the need to unite the party at state level, he is leading protests that should be the prerogative of the district president,” said former DCC vice-president Maninder Pal Singh.
Comparing the protests led by Bittu with those of “Bains brothers”, another Congress leader said: “Bittu may have taken to the path shown by Bains brothers but he can’t match the public support they enjoy. People see all this as a political gimmick.”
Taking a jibe at the protest, Simarjit Singh Bains questioned: “What is the Congress trying to prove by putting up locks on MC offices? As it is, the MC is not completing various projects; the symbolic gesture of locking the offices has a negative connotation.”
