Amarinder to be Cong face in Punjab

 “Resolving the contentious issue of leadership in the party’s Punjab unit, the Congress high command has finalized Amarinder’s name to head the state unit instead of Partap Singh Bajwa, the incumbent Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief. Bajwa will now be shifted to the main organization and will be working to strengthen the party,” said sources.

Party sources said that Congress leadership have selected Amarinder Singh, former chief minister of Punjab, as they felt he is a strong and popular face, who can take on the two major contenders in the state - the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and also the popularly emerging Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “The Akalis have massively lost ground support and are facing a crisis in the state with depleting popularity amongst people. Also there is a dire need to strategize to combat the growing popularity of the AAP. Party leadership saw Amarinder as an apt choice, who can lead the Congress in the state in Assembly polls in 2017,” added the sources.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Congress Vice-President who had visited Punjab and was accompanied by both Partap Singh Bajwa and Amarinder Singh, had portrayed a “united” picture of the party’s state unit. “I came here to look into your problems, to learn about the Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege cases, to meet the people who were shot at, to unite the Congress party together (in reference to rivalry between PPCC chief Bajwa and party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Amarinder),” Rahul had said. According to sources, Rahul had met the two warring sides in the Punjab unit to address their issues and resolve them.  

Emerging powerful after defeating BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley last year in the Lok Sabha elections, Amarinder reinforced his position in the Congress. He managed to humble Jaitley, by sweeping the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, by winning by nearly 90,000 votes.