Cong groups speak against Puri

PATHANKOT: A day after the Gujjar rally at Bhoa village where the Congress presented a picture of unity, both the Ashwini and Bhinder groups adopted an aggressive stance against Punjab housing and urban development minister Raghunath Sahai Puri.
Pathankot MLA Ashok Sharma, an Ashwini loyalist, speaking against Puri said that he was unnecessarily interfering in the affairs of the Pathankot Congress unit.He also told Puri to restrict himself to his constituency of Sujanpur. Puri and Sharma, who were both present at Bhinder’s rally on Sunday, have been pulling strings to get Congress councillor Shrawan Kumar elected as Pathankot Municipal Council (MC) president.
Sharma, however, did not turn up at Kumar’s investiture ceremony, where Puri was the main guest. He, on the other hand, chose to call a press conference at Chamera guest house in the evening. Nine independent councillors, led by Panna Lal Bhatia, alleged that Puri had added to the problems of the Pathankot Congress unit and had encouraged factionalism in the party. Pathankot Congress president Rakesh Kumar Pammi and other senior leaders like Sham Behal were also present at Kumar’s ceremony. Puri praised the first time councillor as a brilliant young man who would rise to the expectations of the residents of Pathankot.
Not even the nine Independents turned up at the ceremony. Panna Lal Bhatia, Vibhuti Sharma, Joginder Pehlwan (all Independent councillors) along with others asked chief minister Amarinder Singh and PPCC chief H S Hanspal to launch a probe into the charges of corruption against Puri levelled by Anil Vij alias Pappu Gheewala whose name had first been proposed for the post of MC president. Vij had alleged immediately after Kumar’s election that Puri had taken Rs 50 lakh to elect Kumar as president.
Puri, on the other hand, had claimed that he had been deputed by Amarinder and Hanspal to defuse the crisis. In the process, he said that Kumar had emerged as the consensus candidate and was elected by voice vote in the house. Countering allegations that he has been unnecessary meddling in the affairs of the Pathankot Congress unit, Puri said that a ruckus was being needlessly created as Sharma had also consented to the election of Kumar as MC president.