Captain’s one-family, one-ticket maxim may lead to more dissensions
Wednesday, 23/11/2016
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=168585&boxid=58380&uid=&dat=2016-11-23
Chandigarh : Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), chief Captain Amarinder Singh is earning the wroth of his senior colleagues, by putting a full-stop to issuance of party tickets, to more than one person in a family.
The leaders who will be affected by this decision of the PPCC chief include, Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa, former PPCC Chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and the former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
Captain’s maxim will also be applicable on his family as wife Rani Perneet Kaur and son Raninder Singh will not pitch for getting tickets.
Bajwa wanted Vidhan Sabha tickets for his younger brother Fateh Jang Singh and wife Charanjit Kaur.
Dullo wants a ticket for his wife Harbans Kaur too. Ravneet Bittu, from assassinated former CM Beant Singh’s family, is seeking a ticket, for his cousin Gurkirat Singh Kotli who is a sitting MLA from Khanna. Bhattal, apart from herself, wants another ticket for her son-in-law Varinder Singh Bajwa. Similarly, Member Parliament from Jalandhar Santokh Singh Chaudhary wants ticket for his son Vikram Chaudhary, a former president of Punjab Youth Congress. Senior Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh, MLa Khadoor Sahib has been seeking party ticket for this wife Rajbansh Kaur, a former MLA, Kapurthala.
The Congress is already faced with a disarrayed campaign, as reported earlier on these pages; the ticket allotment is going to further create dissensions. Affected leader Shamsher Singh Dullo when contacted said that the question would be finally decided by the party high command.
But Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Chief Charanjit Singh Channi said that Captain Amarinder Singh had taken a principled stand and he was with him on the issue. Political observers maintain the Congress is taking cue from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which had been following the principle for last 2 years, as depicted in the Delhi Assembly elections.
This time also the single family single ticket rule will be followed by AAP. This is one of the reason that former MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and his MLA wife Dr. Navjot Kaur Sidhu could not join the AAP after breaking ties with the BJP. AAP had allotted ticket to the daughter of G S Tohra while her husband Harmail Singh Tohra has forfeited his claim.
For Congress this maxim will be troublesome to follow with sincerity. The reason is simple, AICC President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, are MPs in Lok Sabha.
