Loss puts Capt on sticky wicket

The dismal performance by the Congress party in the civic body elections has put the Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh's future on a sticky wicket.

The dismal performance by the Congress party in the civic body elections has put the Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh's future on a sticky wicket.

The murmurs of protest within the party are going to get louder in the coming days. In the line of fire following the stunning defeat in the assembly elections, Amarinder had bought some time from the high command due to the civic body polls.

But the Congress ended up losing all civic bodies under his leadership. In Amritsar, the party's tally came down from 20 to four, while in Jalandhar it added only three seats to its earlier tally of 19. In Ludhiana, the party managed only 19 seats.

But the defeat of Congress in Patiala, Captain's hometown and the party's stronghold, is going to hurt him the most. The campaign in Patiala was led by his wife, Preneet Kaur, union minister of state for external affairs.

Knives will soon be out and the call for his ouster from the top post will gain momentum. Congress spokesman Janardan Dwivedi had said his fate would depend on the MC poll results.

Amarinder's detractors have already been questioning his complete lack of interest in the polls campaign.