Chandigarh: Top leaders of the Punjab Congress on Tuesday flagged the issue pertaining to the growing opposition in the state unit to a tie-up with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2024 polls at the party’s political affairs committee (PAC) in Delhi.
Addressing newspersons after the meeting, the Punjab Congress leaders including Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and the leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that the various issues pertaining to 2024 poll preparations were discussed at the PAC meeting.
No discussion on alliance with AAP: Warring
Replying to a volley of questions on alliance with AAP in Punjab, Warring pointedly said that there was no discussion on the alliance, irrespective of the opinion of some of the leaders who were for it. His comment was indirectly aimed at the remarks of another senior leader Navjot Singh Sidhu who was open to it if high command wanted. Bajwa held that the PAC had taken a serious note of the opinion of the Punjab leaders.
It may be recalled that as anticipated the said issue came up at the 31-member PAC which included top leaders of the state Congress, met the central leadership including AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary K C Venugopal in Delhi, held for a discussion on the seat-sharing as well as the preparations for the upcoming 2024 polls.
The PAC includes Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa, Ambika Soni, Sukhjinder Randhawa, former chief minister Charanjit Channi, former state president Navjot Singh Sidhu and deputy CLP leader Raj Kumar Chabbewal, MPs Gurjit Singh Aujla and Ravneet Bittu, among others.
Some in favour of the alliance
It may be recalled that while a major section of the state unit including Warring and Bajwa are against seat-sharing, some of the leaders are for an alliance with AAP. Notably, the PAC has come after the recent meeting of the state leaders who are already facing vigilance cases or are the ones who fear similar action by state agencies and are thus against the alliance.
