Announcement on state leadership soon: Congress

Saturday, 14/11/2015

http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/

New Delhi : A decision on the restructuring of the Punjab Congress can be expected “very soon” with top party sources today saying that the challenge of uniting faction leaders in the state had been met.

“A solution has been worked out. There is now a clear plan and we will make the announcement very soon,” a top Congress leader today said, adding that the recent tour of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi was an exercise in getting top state leaders to stand together and talk.

Rahul Gandhi ensured in his two-day Punjab tour recently that former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and incumbent state unit president Partap Singh Bajwa, vocal critics of one another, came together to present a united face as the party got closer to the 2017 Assembly elections.

Pointing to the “solution” which has been arrived at on the Punjab issue where Capt Amarinder has been seeking a change of guard, top party sources said that in the new plan, all leaders would work together.

Sources indicated that Capt Amarinder Singh could be the fulcrum of the restructuring plan but that “he would have to work together with a team”.

“The plan we are looking at in Punjab will not just be for the 2017 elections but beyond. There will be a team of young and old. Everyone will have to work together. We need to groom leaders beyond 2017,” a source said.

Party leaders added that “while the Congress respects dissent and doesn’t want to crush it, it also wants people to work together rather than individually”.

There is now a sense in the Congress that Capt Amarinder, perceived earlier as an “individualistic leader”, has now come around and is willing to work with a team.

Top sources – on being asked when exactly the new Punjab team would be announced now that “everything is sorted out” — didn’t give a clear timeline but said, “Soon, very soon.”

To another pointed question on whether Capt Amarinder could be declared the Punjab Congress president, a leader said, “There was never an aversion to declaring him the PCC chief, but the point was whether than can solve everything.”

“Problems don’t get solved by changing one man on the top. They get solved when people are willing to work together. There is now a sense that Punjab leaders are willing to work together because we can really win Punjab. Accordingly, we will make an announcement on Punjab soon.”

Asked whether the Congress was worried about the rise of AAP in Punjab and the fact that delays in the Congress decision making were empowering the fledgling party, top sources said, “We don’t think so. We have seen what AAP has done in Delhi. AAP does not have a structured organisation.”