Amarinder loyalists seek Jagmeet Brar’s expulsion from party

Sunday, 27/03/2016

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AMRITSAR: Leaders belonging to the rural unit of the Amritsar District Congress Committee (DCC) have demanded the expulsion of their senior colleague and former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar from the party for his public utterances against the leadership of the Punjab Congress.

As expected those behind this demand are all loyalists of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee(PP CC) chief Captain Amarinder Singh. These leaders include Raja Sansi MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria (Sukh Sarkari), former MLA Harpartap Singh Ajnala, Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli (Lalli Majithia), Tarsem Singh DC, Swinder Kaur Dhaliwal and Gurjit Singh Aujala, president of the Amritsar rural DCC. 

The demand came to the fore following a recent interview of Brar given to a television channel in which he had been critical of Amarinder’s leadership. 

In a joint statement issued here on Saturday, the Congress leaders observed that Brar was not a “family man” and has always been in the habit of passing critical remarks against those at the helm of affairs in the PPCC. 

“Perhaps Brar does not know that the Congress functions like a single family unit. Within families there are always differences but these remain confined to the family. But Brar goes a step ahead by indulging in public criticism of the party which is very unfortunate,” the statement said. 

The pro-Amarinder leaders pointed out that even in the past Brar had been thrown out of the party for indulging in anti-party activities and challenging the PPCC leadership. This time again he has criticised the state leadership and that too in the media which amounts to violation of party discipline, the statement added. 

“One was hoping after his recent return to the Congress, Brar would be a changed man. But unfortunately he has not changed and neither has he got rid of his habit of passing critical remarks against the PPCC leadership,” the statement stated. 

Amarinder’s loyalists have appealed to the Congress high command to expel Brar from the party. This has become necessary as his actions were against the party’s disciplinary code and have come at a time when the PPCC is gearing up for the next assembly polls, the leaders said.

In the statement, the DCC leaders claimed that Brar was acting at the behest of Akali leaders to weaken the Congress ahead of the assembly elections. 

SUSPENSION SOUGHT FOR PRAISING AAP 

Praising AAP and its policies openly by Jagmeet Brar have not gone down well among the Congress leaders in Pathankot where the unit on Saturday called an emergency meeting of its workers where it was decided to ask the party to remove Brar immediately. 

Addressing party workers, district president of Congress Anil Vij said Brar seems a sympathiser of AAP and a rival for his own party which was driving him to issue statements in the favour of that party. He said Brar as usual was vocal against his own party and when the elections are around the corner his statements can act as an antagonist for the Congress. 

He said his party workers and other senior leaders want that the Congress must show the door to Brar now for his anti-party activities.