In a generational shift, the Congress high command on Saturday appointed firebrand young face of the party and Gidderbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the new Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief.
The party also appointed seniormost leader of the party and Qadian MLA Partap Singh Bajwa as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state assembly.
Third-time MLA from Gidderbaha segment of Muktsar district, Warring will replace Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was asked to resign as the PPCC chief along with Congress chiefs of other states where the party lost the recent assembly polls.
Warring, 44, is apparently the youngest chief in the history of Punjab Congress and is among the two party MLAs from the politically significant Malwa region, the other being Sandeep Jakhar from Abohar. He remained the transport minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi government.
Notably, Sidhu tried his best to regain the post of PPCC chief by trying to showcase himself as the fighter taking on alleged atrocities of the AAP government on Congress workers. However, it is learnt that the Congress high command was “irritated” with his style of functioning and had already made up its mind to replace him with a person who could fight the AAP government head on.
A former All India Youth Congress Chief, Warring, famous for taking Badals head on, is said to be the pick of former All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Rahul Gandhi.
{{/usCountry}}A former All India Youth Congress Chief, Warring, famous for taking Badals head on, is said to be the pick of former All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Rahul Gandhi.
{{/usCountry}}Bharat Bhushan Ashu is working president
Striking a caste balance, the Congress also appointed Hindu face of the party and former food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu as the working president of the PPCC.
Ashu, 51, who lost the assembly polls from Ludhiana West, is also known as a go-getter of the party high command in Punjab. His appointment, while ignoring the claim of senior Hindu faces, is also being considered as yet another attempt of the party to come out of the influence of the old guard.
Bajwa is CLP leader, Raj Kumar his deputy
Bajwa, a former PPCC chief and one of the seniormost leader of the Congress in Punjab, was picked as CLP leader because of his experience, in a bid to corner the Bhagwant Mann-led government inside the assembly.
It is learnt that the Congress high command was also considering Bajwa for the post of state Congress chief but he expressed his reluctance and wanted to get the post of CLP leader.
Senior leaders, including former home minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and former minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, were also eyeing the post, but the party picked Bajwa because of his credentials and oratory skills, a senior party insider said.
Meanwhile, party’s Dalit face and second-time MLA from Chabbewal seat of Hoshiarpur district, Dr Raj Kumar, was appointed as the deputy CLP in the House.