35 MLAs bat for Capt at his ‘power dinner’
Sunday, 13/09/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Amid reports of a change of guard in Punjab Congress, former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh once again flexed his muscle by hosting a dinner for sitting and former MLAs and district presidents to show a majority of them are still batting for him.
The dinner was attended by 31 MLAs while four others marked their attendance on phone. Nearly 30 former MLAs and 16 district presidents were also present. The dinner is being seen as yet another attempt by Amarinder to throw a challenge to the party high command which is trying to find a midway to resolve the leadership crisis.
Though party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi have agreed to replace state Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa, they have not agreed to pass the baton back to Amarinder or any of his loyalists but appoint someone who can present a picture of unity .
Rajya Sabha member Ambika Soni, who would be acceptable to all the warring factions, is the frontrunner for the post but Amarinder, who wants to be given a free hand to run the state unit till the 2017 Punjab polls, is yet to come on board on this.
He has dug in his heels on his demand that he be given the reins of the party in Punjab or his loyalist, Sunil Jakhar, the Congress Legislature Party leader, be appointed the state chief. The former CM’s “my way or highway” attitude has stumped the high command as speculations are rife that Amarinder may split the party if not given his way.
Sources close to Amarinder said the number of MLAs who have been showing solidarity with Amarinder remain at 35 out of 43.
