Rana Gurjeet under attack by own party men

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Since Rana has opened several fronts at a go, he has drawn ire of PCC chief Amarinder S Raja Warring, Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira, Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sultanpur Lodhi ex-MLA Navtej Cheema.

The ex-minister got into this situation after he appeared for a TV interview and called Warring “a selfish man with an artificial smile”. Addressing workers at a meeting in Jalandhar, Warring termed it as indiscipline. Without pointing fingers at Rana, he said, “Indisciplined is the leader who fields his own candidate against that of the party.” After Rana’s TV interview, MP Sukhjinder Randhawa also called for action against “troublemakers” in the party.

On Sunday, Rana went to Maur Mandi, around 180 km away from his constituency, in connection with a programme for farmers. There, he asked farmers to sow maize and promised to buy the crop sown in the entire state on MSP for the next two years.

Rana’s announcement drew criticism from his own party leader Sukhpal Khaira. Khaira, who is chairperson of All India Kisan Congress, wrote on “X”, “I’m saddened that one of our Congress leader of Punjab is propagating BJP-Adani model of private purchase of crops. He’s emphasising that he’ll pay MSP on maize in Punjab for two years as he owns an ethanol industry and needs maize for that. I sense a deep conspiracy to destabilise the party in Punjab. I hope our leadership can see through his game plan.”

Meanwhile, Rana took his son Rana Inder Partap, Independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi, for the CLP meeting. That infuriated Congress ex-MLA Navtej Cheema, against whom Rana Inder Partap had been fielded by Rana. Cheema wrote to LoP Partap Bajwa, expressing displeasure over Rana junior’s presence at the Congress meeting.

Reacting to the criticism, Rana Gurjeet said, “I am not bothered about such reactions. I believe in showing performance and I will do that. I do not want to respond to my critics. Everyone has the right to speak his mind.”