Punjab Assembly elections: Sunil Jakhar dismisses reports of quitting Congress

Chandigarh, February 6

Former Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar dismissed talks of quitting the party on Sunday after news reports said that he was upset at having been sidelined.

Jakhar said on Sunday that he was still part of the Congress—a party he claimed had given him “so much”.

Anybody doubting my commitment to the party is casting aspersions on me, he said, adding that he wasn’t actively campaigning for assembly elections because he wasn’t contesting.

This comes days after a video surfaced of Jakhar claiming that he had over 40 legislators backing him for the position of chief minister after Captain Amarinder Singh quit last September, sending ripples across political circles.

Reports said Jakhar was left out cold after the Congress did a volte-face over its chief ministerial candidate in the assembly elections.

Punjab votes for its 117-member assembly in the third phase of elections on February 20.

Jakhar was appointed Punjab Congress chief in May 2017—just after Punjab assembly elections—and served in that capacity until he was replaced by Navjot Singh Sidhu in July last year.