Captain meets Sonia, naming of Bajwa successor deferred for now

Wednesday, 04/03/2015

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NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Amid an impending change of guard in the Punjab Congress, former chief minister and deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

According to sources close to Amarinder, he endorsed the name of senior MLA and former minister Lal Singh, who also called on Sonia on Tuesday. The two state Congress leaders were also together during the day.

Though Lal Singh is a frontrunner for the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief ’s post, the party appears to have kept on hold for the time being its decision on replacing Partap Singh Bajwa with him.

The leadership is also working on defining Amarinder’s role in Punjab. He would like to be given a categorical assurance of chairing the party’s campaign committee ahead of the 2017 assembly elections and having a major say in ticket distribution as well. As quid pro quo, Amarinder would be expected to extend his full cooperation to the new PPCC chief appointed by the party for smooth functioning of the organisation in the state.

The delay over naming Bajwa’s successor, meanwhile, set the Punjab Congress circles abuzz with speculation. Some party insiders attributed it to stiff resistance from senior leaders and legislators demanding that the party reins be handed over to Amarinder, who claim only he has the ability to give a fight to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine and carry everybody along. Another faction said ex-CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who also met Sonia on Tuesday, and Bajwa have been demanding that a neutral person be appointed to the post, and the party has held back the decision so as to create a broader consensus on the issue. Bajwa is also camping in Delhi.

Another section is said to be in favour of having a working president from young leaders so that they could contribute to strengthening the party at a time when the SAD-BJP combine is facing the heat over the drug menace and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking a foothold in the state after its stupendous victory in Delhi. Amarinder’s detractors also claimed that he had put a spanner in Lal Singh’s appointment by proposing the name of Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar, though Captain’s camp denied it, saying that it was propaganda aimed at driving a wedge between the two leaders.

Lal Singh’s confidants, however, said his name was likely to be announced anytime in the coming days.

Other than growing dissent against him, Bajwa’s woes have been compounded by the party’s dismal performance in the recent municipal elections, with his critics suggesting that Congress fortunes were waning under his leadership.