Cong expels former MLA Surjit Dhiman

CALLING WARRING ‘NOVICE AND OPPORTUNIST’, DHIMAN SAID THE CONGRESS WOULD SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES

CHANDIGARH : Barely four hours after he lashed out against newly appointed Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the Congress on Sunday expelled former MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman from the party for anti-party activities.

Dhiman, who is EX-MLA from Amargarh, has been expelled from the primary membership of the party. The swift action against Dhiman, considered close to former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, was announced by All India Congress Committee secretary in-charge of Punjab Harish Chaudhary.

Dhiman, while reacting to the new appointments, questioned the Congress leadership’s decision to name Warring as the Punjab Congress president. Calling the new state chief “novice and opportunist”, he said the Congress would suffer the consequences of this appointment. “The decision to appoint him is wrong,” he said before praising

Sidhu for working for the party selflessly. A party leader said the central leadership viewed the former MLA’S outburst seriously. “The action has been taken against this indiscretion to send a clear signal to everyone,” he added. Dhiman did not contest the recent assembly election from his Amargarh seat and got a ticket for his nephew Jaswinder Singh Dhiman from Sunam instead. He was among the party leaders, mostly former MLAS, who were again pushing for Sidhu’s reappointment as the state unit chief. The former MLA did not respond to calls.

Besides Warring, the party also appointed Qadian MLA Partap Singh Bajwa as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party,

Chabbewal MLA Dr Raj Kumar as the deputy CLP leader and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu as the working president of the PPCC.

Meanwhile, most senior party leaders, including Sidhu and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, congratulated the new appointees, calling for unity. Sidhu, in a post on Twitter, wrote: “Congratulations to Raja Warring and Bharat Bhushan Ashu…wish them the best always”. He posted another tweet to give his best wishes to Bajwa and Chabbewal, stating that they will be pillars of strength in the vidhan sabha for the Congress.

“Congratulations to the new team of PPCC and the CLP. I extend my wholehearted support and cooperation. Thanks to the party high command this commendable decision,” Channi tweeted. Former Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar also commended them for being chosen by (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi to lead the Punjab Congress through challenging times.