All’s well on Jakhar front, claims Cong
Wednesday, 24/08/2016
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/politics/all-s-well-on-jakhar-front-claims-cong/284596.html
New Delhi : Punjab Congress affairs incharge Asha Kumari today sought to downplay former CLP Leader Sunil Jakhar’s absence from recent party rallies.
Talking to The Tribune, she said, “The entire state Congress is united. Sunil Jakhar is a valued leader and very much part of what is happening. Stories about his ‘hurt’ are Akali Dal plants.”
Asha added that Jakhar, in a show of unity, had steered the press conference along with PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh today.
On August 18, when the top brass of the state unit got together during the Rakhar Punia rally at Baba Bakala, Jakhar — an Amarinder loyalist – had skipped the event despite being asked to come.
The 62-year-old Abohar MLA also did not attend the recent party rally in Khanna. Sources in the Congress said he was still “deeply hurt” over the party leadership’s “inability to distinguish performers from non-performers.”
Jakhar had quit the CLP post in November last year, paving the way for the restructuring of the state unit, while Partap Singh Bajwa had resigned as the state party chief. Bajwa entered the Rajya Sabha, riding on a promise Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi made to him prior to his resignation, but Jakhar did not make it to the Upper House.
A party leader told The Tribune today, “The Punjab Congress was a divided house under Bajwa, yet he was rewarded with the Rajya Sabha ticket. Jakhar worked diligently as the CLP Leader, but was ignored.”
Jakhar is learnt to have conveyed his anguish to the party leadership.
