Punjab Congress split wide open, factions hold separate dharnas

Aman Sood

Patiala, October 10

Differences between the factions of former PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and the one led by incumbent president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring were out in the open during a protest here today. The two factions held parallel shows of strength under the Congress banner “without inviting each other”.

The fissures between the two Congress factions were out in the open here today, when the District Congress Committee (DCC) held a parallel dharna and did not join the protest held by Warring. Later, Warring said with the replacement of the PCC chief, the district committees in Punjab were already dissolved and new panels would be announced soon.

The two factions were protesting against the Punjab Government for not acting against incumbent Cabinet Minister Fauja Singh Sarari. Interestingly, the two dharnas were held on the same issue, but a few km away from each other.

DCC HAS NO PRESIDENT AT PRESENT

Narinder Pal Lalli is no longer the DCC chief as the new list of members was pending with the party high command for approval. All block presidents were present at my dharna site on Monday. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, PCC Chief

HAD NO INFO ABOUT ANOTHER PROTEST

We had no info on any such dharna being held in the city. We should have been the organisers. Ever since Warring became the PCC chief, he has been sidelining us as were appointed by Sidhu. Narinder Pal Lalli, DCC (Urban) president

“We are loyal Congress workers. We held a separate dharna against the state government, using Sidhu’s picture on our banner,” DCC (Urban) president Narinder Pal Lalli said, adding that till the new replacements were announced officially, he continues to be the chief.

Earlier addressing the protesters outside the mini secretariat, Warring disclosed that there was restlessness, dissatisfaction and unease among AAP MLAs and quite a number of them were keen to switch sides and join the Congress. “Despite there being an open and shut case against Sarari, whose OSD had released an audio clip, which the minister had admitted was not fake, he (Sarari) was being allowed to continue in the ministry,” he added.

The PCC chief also referred to earlier action by the AAP government when it sacked and jailed the then Health Minister Vijay Singla.

“Now it is established that the dismissal and arrest of Singla was just a drama ahead of the Sangrur parliamentary bypoll,” Warring said, adding, “CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa had predicted it a month before that AAP will enact a drama like that and jail its own minister to claim zero tolerance against corruption”.

WORKERS LEAVE A MESS BEHIND

• After the Congress dharna ended outside the mini secretariat, plastic glasses and plates, used by the party workers for tea and snacks, were seen dumped on the roadside
• On this, a majority of Congress workers said it was the job of the MC officials to clean the site as we had informed them about the dharna in advance