Ludhiana: Tension simmering in the Punjab Congress after drubbing in Lok Sabha polls came to the fore today as a section of party leaders launched a “signature campaign” seeking removal of party's state chief Partap Singh Bajwa.
Block presidents and other party office bearers from Ludhiana and other parts of the state launched the “remove Bajwa” signature campaign saying,”Bajwa has been a total failure during over one-and-a-half year now. He has not a single achievement to his credit except for dividing the party”.
Addressing a press conference here today, block presidents, DCC office bearers and ward presidents, including Palwinder Singh Taggar, Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, Baljinder Singh Bunty, Rakesh Sharma, Vinod Bathla alleged that Bajwa was “misleading the party high command and party top leadership.”
“Thanks to Bajwa, Congress stands totally split in Punjab today,” they alleged, adding, “as long as Bajwa is there the party cannot hope to win the 2017 elections”. They said, by appointing the working presidents he has virtually created a division in the party at the grassroots level.
Referring to the defeats party suffered under his leadership, they said,”his track record is disastrous. He lost the bye-elections and the parliamentary elections. So much so he lost from Gurdaspur including his family bastion of Qadian”.
Without naming anyone, the office bearers demanded that the party high command must choose a leader who is not only acceptable to every section of the party, but to the masses as well.
“Whether it was ‘dharnas' against the drug smuggling in Punjab, the sand mining, law and order or industrial relief, he has only been speaking and doing nothing on the ground,” they said.
Accusing him of “practising dictatorship”, they said, he has removed several important elected office bearers like the district and block presidents for alleged non-performance. “Today, we have launched a ‘signature campaign' urging the Congress president Sonia Gandhi to remove Bajwa and appoint someone who can lead and take everybody along,” they said.
Party MP and Congress Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Amarinder Singh, is also against Bajwa, who had replaced him as state's party chief.
However, Bajwa maintained that people have the right to express their opinion.
