Brother leads revolt against Congress candidate in Batala
A revolt has broken out against Congress candidate from Batala Ashwani Sekhri. Ironically, his brother Inder Sekhri, the man behind his success for the past 35 years, is leading the rebellion against him.
In a show of strength outside his house here, Inder Sekhri, who was himself a contender for the party ticket, addressed a meeting of several local Congress leaders and his supporters. He appealed to the Congress high command to review its decision.
During the meeting, his supporters maintained that if the high command does not change its decision, they will field Inder Sekhri as an Independent candidate and will leave no stone unturned to ensure his victory.
Notably, several senior Congress leaders, including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) OBC cell vice-chairman Manjeet Hanspal, state Youth Congress secretary Nitin Sharma, former Punjab Agro Chairman Ravinder Sharma, PPCC executive member Pawan Kumar Pamma, District Congress Committee vice-presidents Varinder Sharma and Ramesh Verma were present at the meeting, besides more than a dozen former municipal councillors.
Speaking on the occasion, Manjeet Hanspal claimed that before allotting ticket to Ashwani Sekhri, the Congress leadership had conducted many internal surveys. “All these surveys had clearly indicated dismal poll prospects of Ashwani Sekhri due to his poor performance, but ignoring these reports, the party has allotted ticket to him,” he added.
“During the 10-year rule of the SAD-BJP government in the state, many Congress workers became victim of atrocities. Despite all this, Ashwani is supporting a BJP leader in the running of municipal council administration. If the Congress high command will not change the party candidate in Batala, we will be forced to contest the elections against the party candidate,” he said.