War of camps over Amritsar seat hots up

CHANDIGARH : The cold war between Congress camps in Amritsar Lok Sabha seat is heating up. Several Congress MLAs are learnt to have met Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu earlier this week to request him to contest from the seat or ask his wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, to do so.

In a meeting presided over by Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs, Asha Kumari, last week in Chandigarh, minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and at least five MLAs had rooted for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Sidhu.

Later, education minister OP Soni too had conveyed the same over phone to Sidhu.

Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla, who won the seat in a bypoll after the Congress stormed to power in the state, was not a part of the meeting. Lally Majithia, who lost from Majitha seat, said he will support Aujla.

“Dr Manmohan Singh is our first choice and Sidhu second. We will support the candidature of anyone the party high command decides to field from Amritsar,” Amritsar West MLA Raj Kumar Verka said.

Ajnala MLA Harpartap Ajnala, who has applied for ticket to contest the seat along with his son, is stridently opposing Aujla’s candidature.

“From a district Congress president of Amritsar rural, Aujla went on to become the MP. His new-found stature is irking old-timers,” a Congress leader from Amritsar said. Ajnala did not respond to calls and messages.

Aujla said he does not hail from a political family and had risen through party ranks as a worker. “I have always respected ministers and MLAs. I will abide by the party high command’s decision,” he said.

Navjot Kaur, who has filed application for the Chandigarh seat, is against dislodging a sitting MP. A former MLA from Amritsar East seat — now with Sidhu — Kaur is vying for the ticket with two former Union ministers, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Manish Tewari.

Bansal had quit the Manmohan cabinet in May 2013 over corruption charges and lost the 2014 LS polls. Tewari had refused to contest his Ludhiana seat, citing health concerns.

As actor Kirron Kher is likely to be BJP nominee this time too from Chandigarh, Kaur is hoping to bag the nomination as a woman candidate.

Though Congress president Rahul Gandhi is against sitting Rajya Sabha MPs, MLAs and their kin contesting Lok Sabha polls, the norm may not affect the candidature of Sidhu’s wife. “When Sidhu joined the Congress in run-up to Punjab polls, he was promised a Lok Sabha ticket for his wife. Amarinder’s wife, Preneet Kaur, too, is set to bag the nomination for Patiala seat. They cannot have different yardsticks within the party,” a party source said.

Internal surveys of the Congress show that Sidhu or wife can win even from Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib and Bathinda. But they are not interested. “My wife is busy campaigning in Chandigarh. It is for the party high command to decide if she can contest from here. I am bound to Amritsar and am happy in state politics,” Sidhu said.

CONG’S INTERNAL SURVEYS SHOW THAT SIDHU OR HIS WIFE CAN WIN EVEN FROM AMRITSAR, ANANDPUR SAHIB AND BATHINDA