Chandigarh: Several of senior leaders of the Punjab Congress are reported to have opposed any tie-up with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming general elections in the state during their meeting with the newly appointed state party affairs incharge Devender Yadav, here on Tuesday.
It was the opening day of the three-day meeting being held by Yadav with the state leaders here.
Major political leaders attend meeting
Almost all the senior party leaders including state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa, MP Manish Tewari and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhwa attended the meeting.
Interacting with newspersons after the meeting, Warring said that discussions were held on various issues pertaining to the party organisation and the upcoming polls, especially to set the narrative for the upcoming general elections.
On the issue pertaining to senior leader Navjot Sidhu’s absence from state party programmes, Warring said that Yadav was in know of all the issues pertaining to indiscipline in the party and that he was in favour of an action against all such acts.
When asked about the tie-up with AAP, Warring said the state Congress had not got any directions from the high command in the context so far and that the state leaders had however been asked to prepare for all the 13 Lok Sabha seats.
Some leaders opposed Arvind Kejriwal
Randhawa also pointedly said some of the leaders who were in favour of alliance with AAP in the upcoming elections, vehemently opposed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He, however, plainly refused to reply to queries about Sidhu.
Pertinently, Sidhu who was not present in the meeting, held a rally in Hoshiarpur.
Meanwhile, it may be recalled that it was not the first time that several of the top leaders of the Punjab Congress had resented any alliance with AAP in Punjab under INDIA bloc as they had raised it at the party’s political affairs committee (PAC) in Delhi on December 26, last, as well.
Some of the state leaders had then told newspersons then that even though there was no discussion on the alliance, irrespective of the opinion of some of the leaders (meaning Sidhu) who were for it. Sidhu had repeatedly said that he was open to it if the high command wanted so.
