Suspense over new Cong district urban president

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 13

The race for the Congress Bathinda (Urban) president’s post is getting vigorous as names of three party leaders — Arunjeet Mal, Rajan Garg and KK Aggarwal — are making the rounds in political circles.

The list of probable contenders has already been submitted at the party head office in Delhi and the announcement in this regard is likely to be made within a fortnight.

The Bathinda (Urban) seat has been traditionally held by a Hindu candidate due to a large number of Hindu votes in this Assembly segment.

Of these three leaders, Arunjeet Mal is the frontrunner for the post at present, due to his proximity with Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal.

Presently, he is secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). Earlier, Arunjeet Mal was also made a member of the manifesto committee in the state for the 2017 Assembly election.

His father Jeetmal is also old loyalist of the party and had been a councilor as well.

Another name in the race is Rajan Garg, who is also a prominent face in the Manpreet Badal’s team in the city.

He is a former District Bar Association president and is also a son of former state minister Chiranji Lal Garg, who holds a grip over a sizeable chunk of people as he is heading Mahabir Dal Trust, which runs educational institutions and Ram Bagh in the city.

KK Aggarwal, secretary and delegate to the PPCC, is another Hindu face. He has been actively working as a party leader for a long time. He has been quite vocal against the SAD-BJP combine over selling government properties in the city.

It is learnt from the sources inside the party that present Congress Bathinda (Urban) president Mohan Lal Jhumba would not be given another term as he has already served two terms.

Another probable reason is that he is from former state minister Harmander Singh Jassi’s group, which is separately organising activities in the Bathinda constituency, sources said.