Warring dares Jakhar to contest Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll
FARIDKOT: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday dared former chief Sunil Jakhar, who recently left the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to contest the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll.
Addressing a gathering of party workers at Faridkot, Warring said if Jakhar enters the fray from the BJP, even he will contest the by-election. “Then we will come to know who is the big leader... the leader who is loved by the people is big, not the one with a high status,” he said.
The Sangrur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann relinquished it on winning the assembly elections and becoming the Punjab chief minister.
While Warring won the Gidderbaha assembly seat for the third consecutive term in March, Jakhar did not contest the recent elections. He has earlier represented Abohar thrice in the assembly before losing in 2017 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Gurdaspur after winning the bypoll the same year.
Warring said that even as the Congress lost the recent state elections, it didn’t mean people were fed up with him or former Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon (who had organised the gathering).
“They (voters) were fed up with our three-four leaders who were fighting to become the Punjab chief minister. Sunil Jakhar was among those leaders, who is now talking about Hindutva,” he said, adding that the Congress is a secular party and had appointed Jakhar to all important positions except the CM’s.
He said that despite Jakhar’s failure in 2017 assembly elections, he was appointed the state party president.