Sonia to decide on PPCC chief in five days, says Amarinder

Sushil Goyal

Tribune News Service

Dirba (Sangrur), September 4

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take a decision on replacing Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa within five days. This was stated by former Chief Minister and Deputy Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh here today. Sonia’s decision would end factionalism in the Punjab Congress, he said.

He said deciding on the leadership change in the state was the prerogative of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the party leadership was very much seized of the matter.

Amarinder Singh was here in connection with a mass contact programme under “Mission 2017” to prepare Congress workers for the forthcoming Assembly elections. He has organised 30 such rallies in the state so far.

About Assembly elections, he said though the political graph of the SAD-BJP alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had gone down in the state, neither of these could be written off.

As regards a comment by PPCC chief Bajwa on the Termination of Water Agreements Act, Amarinder said he tabled the Bill in the Assembly 10 years ago and got it passed unanimously. He said he could not understand why Bajwa was raising that issue after 10 years now.

He warned Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the law and order situation might deteriorate in the state if paddy was not timely procured from small farmers. He asked Badal to tell people what arrangements he had made for the procurement of paddy as the FCI would not procure it this time.

He said if the Congress came to power in 2017, it would enhance old-age pension from Rs 250 to Rs 2,000 per month and the benefit under the Shagun Scheme from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000. He said the Badals were misguiding people that if he came to power, he would introduce power bills on tubewells and discontinue free power to the poor. He assured the people that free power facility would continue till he was alive.

Amarinder Singh said none of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, except state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, had any practical experience of ruling a state, so they should vote for experienced Congress men.

He called upon the people to be ready for a political change in the state. He asked Congress workers to associate their relatives and friends with the party so that it could oust the Badals in 2017.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were MLA Mohammad Sadique, MLA Harchand Kaur Ghanauri, former MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman and Congress leader from Sunam Aman Arora.