Former Cong MLA opposes Warring, favours Manpreet

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Gidderbaha, August 2

Although the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has got the affidavits from the ticket aspirants that they would support the official nominee yet the knives are already out among the party leaders.

Former Gidderbaha MLA Raghubir Pardhan has announced that if the party fielded sitting MLA-cum-IYC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring from there, he would openly support the AAP candidate.

Talking to TNS, Raghubir said, “I will not support Raja Warring. He is not a good politician. If the party allots him the ticket this time as well, I will support the AAP candidate. However, if the party fields Manpreet Singh Badal as the Congress candidate I can support him after discussions with my supporters.”

On being asked the reason of opposing Warring and favouring Manpreet, he said, “Earlier, we had differences with Manpreet when he was in SAD but now he is a Congressman everything is all right.” However, Warring doesn’t even know how to address old Congressmen who spent their whole lives for the party. For instance, he had misbehaved with me in the party meeting regarding Maghi Mela in December last year. Similarly, he abused another senior Congress leader who belongs to a freedom fighter’s family,” he added.

Raghubir reiterated that he was not willing to contest the elections.

On reports that he was sacked for anti-party activities in 2012, Pardhan said, “I have not yet got a single communiqué from the PCC office in this regard. Though some people fuelled this rumour, I am still a Congressman. Even the records of PCC office can be checked,” he said.

DCC chief Gurmeet Singh Khudian said, “I am not sure whether Pardhan has been sacked from the party. He has some dispute with Warring, but the former is a respectable person.”

On the other hand, sources close to Warring claimed that Raghubir was sacked by Capt Amarinder Singh in 2012 and has not been re-inducted in the party till date.

The enmity between the two leaders started when the party had fielded Warring from Gidderbaha in 2012.

Courtesy: The Tribune