Don’t wash your dirty linen in public: Baghel to Cong leaders

All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday told state party leaders not to go public with their differences and raise issues only at appropriate party forums.

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According to sources, Baghel told party leaders at a meeting here that he “meant business” and seeing his experience, he had been sent to Punjab “on a purpose” by the top Congress leadership.

Earlier, a controversy had erupted after senior Congress leader Rana Gurjeet Singh launched a no-holds-barred attack against state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, calling him a “selfish leader”.

The outburst had drawn a sharp response from Warring, who without naming Rana Gurjeet, had warned Congress leaders against breaking discipline to get higher posts in the party.

After a daylong meeting with party leaders here, Baghel in an exclusive interview to The Tribune said, “If party leaders have any issue, it should be raised on the party platform and not on public forums. They can speak on public forum about public-related issues.”

On being asked about the criticism of Warring as the state party chief, Baghel said “no one would do it now” as all had assured him to worked unitedly.

“All will be assigned duties while reconstituting the state party unit in the coming days,” he added.

Earlier, during the meeting with state Congress leaders, Baghel told them that they could come to him to discuss issues or approach the party high command, according to a source.

Baghel is learnt to have told the party leaders that given the anti-incumbency against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state, putting up a united front would bear positive results in the 2027 Assembly poll.

‘No AAP MP ready to resign for Kejriwal’

After the meeting, he also told reporters that the ruling AAP was facing “serious infighting” as none of their Rajya Sabha members was ready to vacate his seat for their national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Baghel made the statement three days after AAP declared its Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora as the candidate for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll.

The announcement came amid speculations that Kejriwal might be entering the upper house of Parliament from Punjab following the party’s poll debacle in the Delhi Assembly elections recently. Kejriwal had lost the election from his New Delhi constituency.

AAP has seven Rajya Sabha MPs from the state, including Arora, who will be able to retain only one membership if elected in the bypoll, which is likely to be held in July.

Commenting on Arora’s candidature, Baghel said due to “infighting” in AAP, the party had to announce his name for the Ludhiana (West) seat much in advance even though the bypoll was likely to be held in July.

“Otherwise, Arora could have resigned as an MP and make way for Kejriwal to enter the upper house. None of their Rajya Sabha MPs in Delhi and Punjab was ready to vacate his seat for him,” Baghel told reporters.

Baghel also called as “farce” the AAP government’s campaign to stem out drug menace. “The AAP government is also losing face in Punjab after their Delhi debacle. Their war against drugs is a cover-up for their failures in Delhi,” he said questioning the party’s actions against the drug menace in the last three years of its rule.