The humiliating defeat of the Congress in the Punjab elections has led to a blame game flaring up in the faction-ridden party.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi are bearing the brunt of the attack from their rivals within the party.
Taking the lead former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar blamed Ambika Soni (without naming her) for having misled the high command in taking a wrong decision to replace Captain Amarinder Singh as chief minister when elections were just three months away.
In a tweet, Jakhar said that it was not correct to consider Channi an asset of the party as was being projected by Ambika Soni in the Congress Working Committee meeting on Sunday.
He also blamed Sidhu and Channi for their tussle over nomination as chief ministerial candidates. "The leadership had lost contact with the workers and the people did not believe in the freebies promised by Channi," Jakhar said.
Senior Congress leaders like Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former Deputy CM, Ravneet Bittu, Member of Parliament, Gurjit Aujla, Member of Parliament, and Balbir Sidhu, former Health Minister have come together to fire salvos at Sidhu and Channi.
Randhawa, who managed to retain his seat with a wafer-thin margin, lambasted Sidhu saying that he (Sidhu) is alien to Congress culture and is grossly indisciplined. He sought Sidhu's resignation from the party president’s post on moral grounds. "In fact, Sidhu should have himself resigned after the declaration of results," he added.
Randhawa also said that Sidhu at the time of his installation as state party president had promised to make himself always present in the Congress Bhawan, Chandigarh but he did not keep his word.
Ravneet Bittu was of the view that it was a defeat of the feuding leaders and not of the workers who had toiled hard. Holding Sidhu squarely responsible for the defeat, Bittu said the high command too could not rein in state party chief and his tantrums.
The MP reminded the party how during Priyanka Gandhi's visit to Dhuri, Sidhu had refused to address the gathering when he was called to speak. About Channi, he said that the Chief Ministerial candidate got embroiled in the sand mining case just before voting, bringing negative publicity.
Similarly, Gurjit Aujla held Sidhu's whimsical attitude and rude behaviour responsible for the defeat. He said that the party could not satisfy the senior leaders while distributing tickets. "The workers were confused to see Sidhu and Channi at loggerheads," Aujla added.
Balbir Sidhu also said that it was not a right decision to dislodge Captain Amarinder Singh at the last moment. He held Sidhu and Channi responsible for the party's defeat as both did not give their hundred percent to the campaigning.
Even before the polling, the sitting Members of Parliament of the party like Manish Tiwari, Shamsher Singh Dullo, and Jasbir Singh Gill (Dimpa) had spoken out against allotment of tickets to tainted candidates.
Also read: Why top Congress and Akali Dal leaders were wiped out in the Punjab polls
