Infighting on rise in Punjab Congress after poll debacle

CHANDIGARH: After Congress' poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, infighting is on the rise in state unit as several party leaders today demanded resignation of PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa. Party's state unit vice president Kewal Singh Dhillon, along with senior leaders, including O P Soni, Mohammad Sadiq, Dr Raj Kumar Verka, Ajaib Singh Bhatti and Sunil Datti, demanded Bajwa's resignation, according to a release issued by Dhillon here.

"After the poor performance of the Congress in Punjab in the Parliamentary elections... the PCC president Partap Singh Bajwa must own moral responsibility and resign from the post. However, if he declines to resign, he must be removed," they demanded. "Despite widespread anti-incumbency prevailing against the Akali-BJP government in the state, it was one of the worst performances by the party," the leaders pointed out.

Openly batting for former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who defeated senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, the leaders said, "It is important to boost the morale of the party in Punjab and hand over the party leadership to a strong, powerful and charismatic leader like Amarinder Singh."

It is high time that Congress high command should take immediate and radical steps, lest it be too late and the party will suffer further, they said. Of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, AAP took four, ruling SAD won four and its ally BJP bagged two. Congress won only three seats. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Congress had picked up eight seats while SAD had taken four with BJP winning only one seat.

Partap Singh Bajwa, the Gurdaspur MP who lost to BJP's Vinod Khanna, had yesterday conceded that the Congress could not fully respond to the sentiment of the people which was characterised by anger against the Akali Dal-BJP government in the state. The PCC chief had attributed Congress' failure "to the unexpected sympathy of the people that the Aam Aadmi Party succeeded in winning."