Phillaur Congress MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary quits as Chief Whip in House

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, April 8

Bringing to the fore differences among party leaders, Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary on Monday resigned as Chief Whip of the Congress in the Vidhan Sabha.

He has sent his resignation to CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa. Chaudhary is considered close to Bajwa. Despite repeated attempts, Bajwa did not respond to the calls.

The resignation follows his resentment over the candidature of former CM Charanjit Singh Channi being considered by the party high command from Jalandhar. Son of former Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Vikram had been staking claim for the seat. Karamjit Kaur, wife of the former MP, had unsuccessfully contested the last Jalandhar byelection.

Choosing the candidates for the reserved parliamentary segments of Faridkot, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Fatehgarh Sahib has been a headache for the party. The party had almost made up his mind to field Channi from Jalandhar but Chaudhary raised strong objections.

Chaudhary recently questioned Channi’s credentials to contest from any seat in Punjab as he had lost the Assembly election from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur segments

Chaudhary’s resignation comes in the wake of reports of his family being wooed by AAP for the Jalandhar seat.

Chaudhary denied that he was switching the party. “I am a loyal solider of the party but I have resigned from the post of the Chief Whip as I am busy in my constituency,” he added.