Punjab Poll Results: Harish Chaudhary Meets Congress Candidates to Discuss Party’s Performance : #RashtraNews
#Punjab #Poll #Results #Harish #Chaudhary #Meets #Congress #Candidates #Discuss #Partys #Performance
Following the Congress’ humiliating defeat in the Punjab assembly polls, AICC Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary on Tuesday called a meeting of candidates to introspect on the party’s drubbing. Before the start of the meeting, Chaudhary told reporters that he would personally meet the party candidates to find the reasons behind the defeat.
Outgoing Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party’s state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu also reached the Punjab Congress office. However, both refused to talk to the media. Gurpreet Singh, who lost from Bassi Pathana assembly seat, squarely blamed Channi for the party’s crushing defeat in the polls.
He said had the Congress announced Sidhu as the party’s chief ministerial face, it would have won at least 50 seats. “CM Channi is the only reason for the party’s defeat. People did not like Channi as the CM face at all. Had (Navjot) Sidhu been announced as the CM, we would have won at least 50 seats, said Gurpreet Singh.
When pointed out that Sidhu himself lost from his Amritsar East seat, Gurpreet Singh blamed Channi again. “If Charanjit Channi was the CM face then what could Sidhu do?” he said.
The Punjab leader said how could the people of Punjab listen to Channi when his brother does not. Channi’s brother Manohar Singh contested as an Independent from Bassi Pathana seat against Gurpreet Singh.
“Is it the job of the CM to dance or milk a goat,” he said taking a dig at Channi’s Bhangra performance at an event. Instead, Channi should have focused on improving health and education sectors and job creation, said Gurpreet Singh.
Replying to a question, Gurpreet Singh said as a huge sum of money was seized from Channi’s nephew following the Enforcement Directorate raid, he should not have been declared as the chief ministerial face by the party high command. The former Congress MLA also alleged that Channi was richer than former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who lost from Ludhiana West, said, “The reasons because of which we lost the elections will be out in the open soon. I do not think that the party was weak or we lost because of the leadership.” A blame game has commenced within the Punjab Congress over the drubbing in the polls. On Monday, former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar had hit out at Channi and called him a liability whose “greed pulled the party down”.
Without taking her name, Jakhar had also targeted senior party leader Ambika Soni for trying to project Channi as an asset. On Sunday, former Punjab minister and senior Congress leader Balbir Singh Sidhu, who lost from Mohali, had said that the Congress leadership scripted its own defeat by giving power to turncoats and opportunists who were alien to the Congress, its history and its culture.
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and Ukraine-Russia War Live Updates here.
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.news18.com feed.)
Related searches :
