|
Amarinder makes his point by going
to people
WSN Network
SANGRUR/BATHINDA:
Notwithstanding all the machinations of his fellow party leaders and
the lack of support from the party high command, Punjab Congress
campaign committee chairman and former CM Amarinder Singh on Sunday
unleashed his potential with rallies in Sangrur and Bathinda and
showed that he indeed continued to exercise charisma.
Calling it his
mass contact programme, Amarinder was at a rally organised by former
MLA Arvind Khanna, a strong contender for the Congress ticket for
Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, virtually with no support from the party.
Former Dhuri
Congress MLA and state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) general secretary
Dhanwant Singh and senior Congress leader Rajinder Deepa, along with
a battery of supporters, declared to rejoin Congress. Capt Amarinder
Singh welcomed both by garlanding them.
Malerkotla MLA
Razia Sultana went to the extent of declaring Khanna the most
suitable Congress candidate for Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
Of the seven
party MLAs from Sangrur and Barnala districts comprising Sangrur Lok
Sabha seat, Razia, Surjit Dhiman and Harchand Kaur addressed the
rally, while four others, including Opposition leader Rajinder Kaur
Bhattal, kept away.
Amarinder's was
an open challenge to Parkash Singh Badal-Sukhbir Singh Badal and he
said the government had a third pillar called Bikram Singh Majithia.
It is all in the family was Amarinder's refrain. He also underlined
the goonda-mafia culture that has been injected into
Punjab polity
for sometime now and said Sukhbir was using the Student Organisation
of India (SOI) activists for the purpose.
On his part,
there hardly seemed to be an engaged response and instead he fell to
the temptation of a political response a la
Punjab style: he
announced settingup of teams of 100-200 activists, armed with canes,
to prevent booth capturing.
Former minister
Pratap Bajwa and MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu also joined him.
10
December
2008
|
Read Also