Cong war rattles Delhi,high command asks leaders to stop blame game

The bitter war of words between Congress leaders has finally reached New Delhi.

The bitter war of words between Congress leaders has finally reached New Delhi. Rattled by accusations and counter accusations levelled by its senior leaders against one another,the party high command has asked them to stop the blame game and a meeting of senior party leaders has been called in New Delhi on March 4 to put a lid on the controversy.

According to Congress sources,party president Sonia Gandhi had decided to call a meeting to look into the affairs in Punjab after first half of the budget session ended last Friday. The meeting will end the blame game by either clearly establishing the leadership of Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh or make way for a new state president in wake of widespread resentment and infighting in the party following the poll defeat, a senior leader said.

Meanwhile,letters have been sent to senior Punjab leaders,including MPs,Union ministers,Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar,Rajinder Kaur Bhattal besides Amarinder and incumbent Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar to take part in the meeting.

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The meeting has also intensified lobbying for the post of PPCC president with Gurdaspur MP Paratap Singh Bajwa and Jagmeet Brar being seen as strong contenders from among Jat Sikhs. Also,lobbying for a bigger role in the state unit post debacle are MPs such as Manish Tewari. They are meeting prominent leaders in Delhi demanding a change in leadership to pull the Congress through such difficult times.

Some leaders on condition of anonymity said they are also likely to demand replacement of Punjab Congress in-charge Gulchain Singh Charak,who has stayed away after the partys poll debacle,preferring to issue statements from New Delhi. He is also under fire for not being able to stop the free-for-all blame game raging within the party and playing to both Amarinder and Bhattal factions. It is also learnt that Bhattal spoke to Charak on Sunday before accusing Amarinder of lies,corruption and deceit. Some also see the ensuing war of words as an attempt to raise the oust Amarinder pitch before the meeting.

Capt lost stature by his counter attack

Supporters of Captain Amarinder Singh are not convinced about the strategy of taking on his rivals. Amarinder has always stood tall by not gunning for any leader. This kind of counter attack was ill-advised and has led to loss of stature, a senior leader said.

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