Punjab Cong chief accuses Sunil Jakhar of betraying party; dares Sandeep Jakhar to resign

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday lashed out at Sunil Jakhar, accusing him of betraying the party and sabotaging its prospects in the recent Assembly elections.

Abohar (Pb):Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday lashed out at Sunil Jakhar, accusing him of betraying the party and sabotaging its prospects in the recent Assembly elections. Jakhar quit the Congress and joined the BJP in May. At a public meeting here on the last leg of the six-day 'Tiranga Yatra' here, Warring challenged former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar's nephew and MLA Sandeep Jakhar to resign from the grand old party and get a fresh mandate "if he was so confident about their support" in Abohar.

In June, Warring had dared Sunil Jakhar to take his nephew along with him to the BJP, to which Sandeep Jakhar had responded, saying the grand old party can expel him but he would not resign. In a statement, he accused the BJP of making the Independence Day celebrations "partisan". Ideally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have called an all-party meeting and announced a non-partisan national programme to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence, the Punjab Congress chief said.

"But the BJP believes that it has exclusive right over nationalism," he said and asserted that the BJP "can never match" the contribution of the Congress party towards the nation and nationalism. At the meeting, Warring lauded the overwhelming enthusiasm among the party workers over the 'Tiranga Yatra'.

"I salute your loyalty towards the party and the nation," he said. For the people of Abohar, it was a double celebration as apart from the 75th anniversary of Independence, they also got "freedom from the Jakhars" who had "grabbed the Congress party as if they had got it on a lifetime lease", Warring claimed.

On the occasion, senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa congratulated the people of Abohar for remaining loyal to the Congress. He said those who deserted the party will soon realise their mistake as they will not be accepted by anyone anywhere. (PTI)