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Amarinder’s
brother bows out of race
AASHA
KHOSA
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 7: Capt.
Amarinder Singh, Punjab Congress leader and the party’s ‘‘shadow’’
chief minister in the run-up to Assembly polls, has apparently
deflated his rivals’ campaign by making his brother withdraw
his nomination for the elections.
Amarinder Singh confirmed
that Malvinder Singh, whose name was approved by the selection
committee from Samana constituency in Patiala had withdrawn
his nomination.
It appears that Malvinder Singh
had written a letter to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi,
proposing his voluntary withdrawal.
Malvinder’s name had been recommended
by Parneet Kaur, MP from Patiala who is also Amarinder Singh’s
wife.
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17 BSP leaders
quit
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| HOSHIARPUR: BSP suffered a major
jolt in Punjab on Monday with 17 senior leaders quitting
the party in protest against the ‘‘dictatorial attitude’’
of BSP chief Kanshi Ram and joining the Bahujan Samaj
Morcha. The leaders accused Kanshi Ram of ‘‘exploiting
Dalit sentiments for selfish motives’’ and joined the
Morcha headed by Satnam Singh Kainth. The leaders reposed
full faith in the leadership of Kainth, who welcomed them
to the Bahujan Samaj Morcha, at a function here. (Agencies) |
The move has armed Amarinder
Singh with a lot more moral authority to counter the group
of seven MPs, some of whom have been insisting on tickets
for their kin and supporters.
This has been one of the main
impediments in finalising the list of candidates from Punjab
and has also led to open display of factionalism within the
party.
Sources said that at least
five MPs had been asking for tickets for their close kins.
The central selection committee had so far been trying to
dissuade nominations of candidates whose only qualification
was blood ties with the MPs.
Sources said the selection
committee had found merit with only one such case as the MP’s
nominee had been a party worker for many years.
Although Amarinder Singh today
said that the final decision on all seats, including nearly
25 contentious ones, would be taken by Sonia Gandhi in the
next day or two, sources said that Amarinder Singh was being
regularly consulted by the party general secretary M.L. Vora
and other leaders.
Vora continued his behind-the-scenes
consultations before presenting a final list to Sonia Gandhi.
In order to mount pressure
on his detractors Amarinder Singh’s close lieutenant Partap
Singh Bajwa also made his brother withdraw his nomination
from Sri Hargobindpur.
Bajwa, who is the vice president
of Punjab Congress and a former minister confirmed that his
brother Fateh Jang Bahadur had followed the example that had
been set by Malvinder Singh.
However, the delay in the
finalisation of lists has created anxiety in the party.
The AICC office was once again
deluged by aspirants, whose hopes had been revived because
of speculation on revision in the list of 80 candidates stipulated
to have been almost finalised.
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