Asha in-charge of city Cong

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 19

After being appointed Congress in-charge of Punjab, senior party leader Asha Kumari was today also given the charge of the Chandigarh unit.

Chandigarh was so far being handled by former minister and party veteran Kamal Nath, who is also the Congress general secretary for Haryana.

“I’m grateful to the Congress leadership for reposing faith in me. I will take the charge of Chandigarh shortly. I hope all Congress leaders of Chandigarh will work together for the upcoming municipal elections,” Asha Kumari told The Tribune today.

Asked how she proposed to unite the warring factions in the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee, Asha Kumari said she was confident everyone would work harmoniously for the larger interests of the party.

Factions led by former minister Pawan Bansal and former Chandigarh Congress chief BB Behl have been at loggerheads for long and unity in the Chandigarh unit has suffered. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is aware of the factional wars.

Asha Kumari’s appointment as Chandigarh in-charge is seen as a calculated move by Sonia to bring unity to a divided house. Asha has successfully brought rival forces together in Punjab, where elections are due next year.

In Punjab, she is credited with getting bete noires Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Bajwa; Preneet Kaur and Brahm Mohindra and many others together.

Even in Himachal Pradesh, where Asha Kumari is an MLA, she is seen as someone who has put the party interests before personal interests considering she has stood with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh despite differences with him. 

She, in fact, led Virbhadra Singh’s defence after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided his house in Shimla on his daughter’s wedding day.

Asha Kumari’s elevation is being seen in the Congress circles as the party leadership’s attempt to build her profile for a future role in Himachal Pradesh where she is seen as a potential successor to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.