Amarinder tallest state leader, loyalists tell Rahul

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

Former CM Capt Amarinder Singh held yet another “power” lunch with his loyalists today even as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met the second batch of legislators to find out what is needed to be done to win the 2017 poll.

A majority of the MLAs who met Rahul during the day attended the lunch. Captain returned from London last morning amid hectic deliberations in Delhi on the change of guard in Punjab. He is likely to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi soon to discuss the matter before a final decision is taken.

Rahul met around 18 legislators, including former state CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Capt loyalists Kewal Dhillon, Rana Sodhi and Sukh Sarkaria among others and AICC secretary Ashwani Sekhri.

Starting tomorrow, Rahul will also meet all Punjab Congress district chiefs to assess their position on the leadership issue.

Sources indicated that Rahul’s meetings with the legislators were indicative of his open mindedness to the possibility of Captain as the PCC chief in Punjab, something that was ruled out until a while ago. “Why else would the leadership meet MLAs knowing that a majority of them are Amarinder loyalists and have openly sided with him,” said a leader.

Kewal Dhillon said Rahul appeared concerned about Congress’ victory in 2017 and asked what should be done to ensure it. “I told the Congress vice-president to listen to the voice of the people who want Amarinder as their leader. Even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to contest in Punjab, he would lose to Capt. I said we can win Punjab if we have the right leaders,” he said.

Rana Sodhi also backed Captain in his meeting. “I told Rahul that Congress victory in Punjab would serve as a stepping stone for him to become India’s Prime Minister in the future. I also said that Amarinder has established himself as the tallest leader in Punjab. The party vice-president heard very patiently and appeared positive,” Sodhi said.

Some senior MLAs like Bhattal are learnt to have recommended a balance in the new leadership structure with preference for Soni as the state party chief to forge unity in a faction-ridden unit. One MLA said: “We have told the top brass that the CLP leadership should change if Amarinder is to be made the PCC chief.”

Those who met Rahul today included Jagmohan Kang, Karan Brar, Harchand kaur, Aruna Choudhry, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sunder Sham, Sukh Sarkaria, Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Navtej Cheema, Gurcharan Boparai, Parminder Pinky, OP Soni and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.