Cong factions spar over ticket allotment

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 7

Factionalism in the state Congress surfaced during ticket distribution for the September 19 elections to 22 zila parishads and 150 panchayat samitis, even as the deadline for filing nominations ended on Friday.

Amid differences between factions in Mohali, Ropar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur districts, the announcement of candidates on 20 per cent of the seats was made only in the morning on the final day.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and PPCC general secretary in charge of party office Capt Sandeep Sandhu were engaged in fire-fighting till the eleventh hour. Election observers were asked to ensure consensus before the filing of nominations.

Admitting that there were issues in some segments, Jakhar said all nominations had been filed in time.

In Ropar, former district party presidents expressed resentment against the candidates backed by youth leader Barinder Dhillon. The latter had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 Assembly elections from Ropar. In Kharar, there was opposition to some candidates owing allegiance to ex-MLA Jagmohan Kang, who had lost the Assembly polls.

Several senior leaders complained that some of the segments were reserved at the behest of MLAs. In Ludhiana, the son of Gurmel Pehalwan, a senior party leader owing allegiance to former Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari, was left out as the seat (Sahnewal) he wanted to contest from was reserved.

“Of the 25 candidates proposed by us, 20 were given the ticket,” said Punjab Youth Congress president Amarpreet Singh Lally.