CHANDIGARH – After Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa attacked Congress leader Capt. Amarinder Singh for the election debacle, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Jagmeet Brar’s brother Ripjit Brar took on the State Congress leadership, saying it had failed to utilise the money meant for the party campaign.
Ripjit, who lost the elections from Kotkapura, accused Capt Amarinder Singh of failing to persuade rebel party candidates to fall in line. He even alleged that at some places efforts were made to encourage rebels to mar the chances of official candidates. A prominent rebel Upinder Sharma was in the fray from Kotkapura.
Ripjit claimed when a senior leader like Oscar Fernandes was deputed to hold talks with the rebels, the PCC chief was reluctant to accompany him to meet the rebels. The PCC chief, he said, sent his secretarial staff to tackle the rebels.
Ripjit said in constituencies where rebel Congressmen were in the fray, an impression was given that they enjoyed the patronage of the state leadership. He alleged this was the proverbial last straw for the Congress candidates.
In contrast, Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal spent five hours at an Akali dissident’s house and finally succeeded in making him withdraw his papers.
