Loyalty, seniority be the factors to decide next Punjab Cong chief: Bajwa

: Senior Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday stressed that the appointment of the next state party chief should be based on seniority and loyalty if it wants to win the longer race

: Senior Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday stressed that the appointment of the next state party chief should be based on seniority and loyalty if it wants to win the longer race.

Senior Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa.

Bajwa submitted his resignation as Rajya Sabha member to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday after being elected to the Punjab assembly in the recently concluded state elections.

Bajwa, who won the Qadian assembly seat, is considered to be a top contender for the post of the leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly and also Congress state chief. Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu tendered his resignation from the post after the party’s drubbing in the state elections.

“I leave everything to the party high command, three factors need to be looked at. First is the loyalty of the person for the leader of opposition and PCC president, the second factor is seniority which should be given a priority. You cannot make a colonel a general overnight. And the last point is the capability of the person if the party wants to win the longer race,” Bajwa, who served as the Punjab Congress chief from 2013-2015, told ANI.

Asked about the reason behind the party’s defeat in the recently concluded polls, he said, “my take is that there was no effort at the top. Senior most leadership was not playing in the interest of the party. We need to work together and we must learn from history. If we fight unitedly, we can bring Congress back. Our vote share has also come down.”