Comparing leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab to “clowns or comedians,” senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh on Thursday accused them of harbouring “false dreams.”
“Governance is too serious a duty to be left for clowns or comedians to perform. #AAP leaders are showing false dreams in #Punjab,” Captain Singh said on Twitter.
‘No need for alliance’
The former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress veteran, who had been sulking for some time, also said on Twitter a few days ago that the ground condition of the Congress in Punjab didn’t need any alliance.
“We can wrest power from the anti-people Akali-BJP nexus on our own,” he had claimed.
Hoping to replicate its Delhi Assembly election victory in Punjab, the AAP had last month launched ‘Punjab Jodo’, a long-term campaign to prepare the party for 2017 Assembly polls in the State.
To increase membership
The campaign aims to increase party membership, strengthen organisational structure in the State.
It has also launched a membership drive in Punjab last month and plans to enrol 25 lakh members by September end. The emergence of the AAP in Punjab is a worry for the Congress and there is a realisation that continued squabbling in the party may further put into jeopardy its efforts to wrest power in the State after a decade.
The Congress had secured only three seats in the last Lok Sabha polls, while Akalis clinched four and the BJP two. The Congress high-command is likely to replace the party’s faction-hit Punjab unit soon with a “consensus” PCC to put up a united face ahead of next year’s assembly elections.
Accommodating all sections
According to sources, the party is working on a formula where all sections are accommodated to the satisfaction of prominent leaders in the State in a bid to end factionalism after defeat in two successive Assembly polls at the hands of the Akali Dal-BJP combine.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi have held several rounds of discussions with State leaders to resolve the leadership row and restructure the Punjab unit.
As part of the restructuring exercise, incumbent state party chief Pratap Singh Bajwa, whose ouster has been strongly demanded by Capt. Singh, is set to be replaced.
While senior Congress leader Ambika Soni is leading the race for the PCC chief’s post, Capt. Amarinder himself is likely to be appointed the party’s campaign committee chief for the next Assembly polls.
