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Bhattal out, Kaypee new president
of Punjab Cong but Amarinder is Man of The Match
WSN Network
 CHANDIGARH:
Notwithstanding the machinations of his fellow partymen in
Punjab, former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh made a
comeback that would equally jolt his rivals within the party as well
as outside.
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was removed as President of Punjab
Congress, and Mohinder Singh Kaypee appointed as state unit chief of
the party. But the focus remained on Amarinder Singh who was made
the Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee for
Punjab, leaving Bhattal with the single post of Leader of the
Opposition in the Assembly.
It is after a long time that the party in
Punjab has gotten a
non-Jat at its helm, and that too a Dalit.
Amarinder Singh shall also be assisted by former minister
Ashwani Sekhri who has been made convenor of the Campaign
Committee.
 For
the record, Bhattal was made to resign from the post of state unit
head. A press note issued by Congress general secretary Janardan
Dwivedi announced acceptance of Bhattal’s resignation and
appointment of Amarinder Singh as Chairman of the Election Campaign
Committee.
The developments come as a setback for Bhattal who had been
gunning for Amarinder ever since the party lost power to Akali-BJP
alliance. At one stage her associates were lobbying hard for some
kind of an action against Amarinder Singh.
The scion of the
Patiala royals
minced no words in declaring that Bhattal was hand in glove with the
Badals, an impression that gained ground fast after she was let off
from the corruption charges while the Vigilance Bureau sleuths went
hammer and tongs after Amarinder Singh.
 The
Amarinder-Bhattal relationship remained tense even during the
Congress regime in the state and BIS Chahal, the Man Friday of
Amarinder, was seen as a tormentor of Bhattal. At one stage, Bhattal
and her loyal MLAs had camped for days in
Delhi seeking
Amarinder’s ouster but failed. Bhattal became a Deputy CM but
remained effectively powerless. In fact, the political joke
currently is that Bhattal was more powerful in Akali regime than
when she was Deputy CM.
Amarinder had staged a high profile comeback despite all
machinations of the Akalis and has displayed a remarkable ability to
retain loyalty of the Congress MLAs despite being sidelined by even
his own party leadership. Everytime there was any talk of Amarinder
being given any responsibility by the Congress high command, the
Akali regime would respond with either a new case of corruption
against Amarinder or another round of summons from the Vigilance
Bureau.
6 August, 2008
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