Rana Gurjit claims was first to hurl abuses at Majithia,won’t apologise

The day saw dramatic events after Rana along with Jakhar attended a meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Speaker Charanjit Atwal.

In the meeting,Badal said both Majithia and Rana had abused each other and they could end the stalemate by apologising to each other. Later another meeting was held after Majithia reached from Delhi. Badal asked Majithia and Rana to hug each other and the duo obliged. However,in the CLP meeting when party president Partap Bajwa asked Rana if he too had hurled abuses and was willing to apologise,Rana said he was the first to hurl the abuses but would not apologise.

This saw MLAs Laal Singh,Parminder Pinky and Navtej Cheema accusing Rana of having misled the party and wasting a session. Later Rana said he would go by the CLP leader’s decision. This also explains why the Congress did not screen the CDs in the Moga bypoll despite then party president,Capt Amarinder Singh,announcing to do so. While Majithia was caught on the mike hurling expletives,he had accused Rana of abusing him first.

Rana,when contacted,said he has given his version to the party. “I will resign but will not tender an apology,” he said.

However,Jakhar said that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. “I believe both Rana and Majithia have shunned their differences and they both hugged each other when the CM asked them to. The CM has himself said he will ensure that the issue is resolved amicably. Now it depends on what he says in his speech when the House resumes on Wednesday for discussion on the Governor’s address. If not satisfied,we may keep up the protest but we will not disrupt the proceedings,” Jakhar said.

But sources in the party said the animosity between Rana Gurjit and Partap Bajwa dates back to the time when Rana came from Uttar Pradesh and started a paper mill in Punjab. “The two were business partners but later fell apart and Rana Gurjit grew close to former PCC chief (Amarinder Singh). His admission that he hurled the abuses hints that his Jat pride has been hurt by being projected as the victim of abuses and he wants to project he too abused Majithia or he just wants to embarrass Bajwa who wanted the boycott of the session to continue by saying he will go by the advice of the CLP leader who was in favour of ending the controversy,” a senior leader of the party said. The CLP would meet again Tuesday to reach a consensus on the future course of action.