Talks for merger with Congress on: Manpreet
Wednesday, 13/01/2016
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Chandigarh : Admitting for the first time that he is in talks for merging People’s Party of Punjab with the Congress, Manpreet Badal today said that they will take a call soon. However, he ruled out that there is any plan to join the Congress during the Maghi Mela conference in Muktsar.
To discuss the merger with his party cadre, he had called a meeting of different district units. “Another meeting of remaining districts will take place in Muktsar,” he said. Once the central committee of the party takes a decision it will be taken up in the general body meeting of the party.
Talking to TNS at his residence here, Manpreet said that it will be unfair to deny the fact they are negotiating with the Congress on the merger. However, he refused to share the details saying that it will be too early to say something. “Once we will reach near the bridge, we will share the details,” he said.
“One thing I can say is that we parted ways with SAD on issues like VIP culture etc and we want Congress to accept that,” he said.
He said that at present the biggest challenge before Punjab was to get rid of the SAD and Badal family. “They are the biggest VIPs and have destroyed Punjab,” he said. However, when asked when his political mannerism was closer to AAP, why didn’t he prefer AAP. He said that certain leaders in AAP don’t want him to be there.
He also said that Punjab needs to move on from personality based politics.
Former finance minister Manpreet Badal had parted ways with SAD in 2010 and floated the Peoples Party of Punjab. But not even a single candidate of his party could win in the 2012 Assembly elections and he himself lost from both the seats he had contested.
In 2014 he had contested the Lok Sabha election from Bathinda and had given a tough fight to chief minister’s daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who won the seat by less than 20,000 votes.
