Punjab Congress MPs rail at state brass

NEW DELHI: Congress MPs from Punjab blamed the state leadership for the poll debacle, and accused the central managers of messing up poll management and ticket allocation, as they indulged in a postmortem of the defeat with party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.

In the firing line during the detailed session were ex-CM Charanjit Channi, state unit chief Navjot Sidhu, campaign committee chairman Sunil Jakhar and AICC general secretary Harish Chaudhary.

The bulk of the members trained their guns at Channi, as they lashed out at the alleged corruption during his short reign while also referring to the ED raids that seized money from his relative. Among the complainants were Dalit MPs as well as those who rebelled during polls over denial of tickets to their kin, and also Preneet Kaur, wife of ex-CM Amarinder Singh.

Naming constituencies, it was also alleged that Channi sabotaged the polls of many party candidates. Their wrath also fell on Sidhu whose constant sniping at leaders including Channi, and his pinpricks against other state stalwarts, it was argued, never allowed the party to get into the election mode.

In July, these MPs had red flagged Sidhu's elevation as state chief, after it became clear to them that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's support for him had clinched the deal for the maverick leader. They had in a written representation to Sonia Gandhi warned against Sidhu's mercurial ways and his individualism, but their plea was ignored.

Now in the aftermath of the poll debacle, the MPs narrated to Sonia how Sidhu had scuppered the party's attempt to put up a united face.

While Kaur is learnt to have spoken briefly about 'ill treatment" to her family, another member backed her reportedly by narrating how MLAs were goaded by an AICC officebearer to sign the memorandum seeking Amarinder's removal, citing it as the wish of the central leadership. Jakhar's attacks that he was denied the CM's post because he was a Hindu badly hurt the party's prospects, some members noted.

Sources said Sonia heard the MPs patiently, only making passing observations on some issues raised.