New Delhi: Infighting, leaders taking potshots at each other, or any other form of indiscipline will not be tolerated in the Congress' Punjab Unit, Rahul Gandhi told the newly appointed team on Monday. The Congress, which had swept the 2017 polls with 77 of 117 seats nosedived to just 18 in 2022 polls.
New Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja, CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa, working president BB Ashu and deputy CLP leader Raj Kumar Chhabbewal, along with AICC in-charge Harish Chaudhary, met Rahul Gandhi on Monday to discuss the road map ahead for the state. “There will be zero tolerance for indiscipline…if any leaders indulge in indiscipline, they will be shown the door...we told this to Rahul Ji,” Raja told reporters after the meeting.
He, however, noted that there could be differences among the state leaders and said that such issues must be resolved either with the state unit chief, the CLP leader or with the AICC in-charge. “But resorting to protests or dharnas is not acceptable,” said Raja. Citing the infighting in the state unit before and during the polls, Raja said that the past incidents were unfortunate and should not have taken place.
“Four months ago, everyone was speaking against whoever they wanted in public…whether it was against the state unit chief or the chief minister…it should not have happened,” he said. The new Congress chief was referring to the public spat between former chief minister Amarinder Singh and the then state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and later between Sidhu and chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Sidhu had led the revolt against Amarinder Singh as he wanted to be the chief minister but the party high command made Navjot the state unit chief and named Channi as the new chief minister. Following the ugly spat with Sidhu, Amarinder Singh was removed from the top post. “If there is indiscipline, you cannot run an organisation…Rahul Ji has asked us to stay united and strengthen the party,” said Raja.
“We will be a constructive opposition but we will keep reminding the government to deliver on their promises,” said Chaudhary. “We will not tolerate any indiscipline in the party. One of the key focus areas of the new team would be to engage with the workers and the voters alike,” he said. Party leaders said Rahul has delivered his stern message through the new state unit chief but it remains to be seen how much of it is actually followed.
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