Ambika Soni leads race to Punjab Cong chief’s post

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4

Former Union Minister and senior leader Ambika Soni is the frontrunner for the post of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, a position she held nearly two decades ago.

The Rajya Sabha MP was the PPCC chief in 1996 when Rajinder Kaur Bhattal became the Chief Minister for a short duration before the Assembly polls.

The party central leadership, which is engaged in discussions with Congress leaders from the state, including former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, incumbent state unit chief Partap Singh Bajwa, appear to be veering around the view that it is time to effect a change.

Sources in the party told The Tribune today that a decision was expected to be announced once a final view was taken on the overall revamp of the state Congress, including reshuffling the posts in the legislature party and creating a comprehensive unit to enter the electoral battle.

Besides the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, the party has to face yet another challenge from the AAP.

For over an year, the pressure to remove PPCC chief Bajwa is mounting especially in the wake of the loss suffered in the Lok Sabha election in which even the sitting MP and PPCC chief was trounced. In addition, Capt Amarinder made no attempts to hide his unhappiness over the lack of decision in changing the state Congress leadership.

While the former Punjab Chief Minister proved his mettle by wresting the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in an electoral duel with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he has studiously kept away from attending Parliament as a form of protest.

However, the Congress leadership was unwilling to be seen acting under pressure and not to cave in to the tactics being adopted by Capt Amarinder but at the same time frustrated with the latter nixing all possible candidates as new PPCC chief, other than those suggested by his camp.

There are several pieces in the “packaged deal” that the Congress is planning for the state unit. These include a balance between representation to different communities and making sure that those at the helm do not start considering themselves as automatic choice for the CM’s post.