Lal Singh hot contender for state Congress chief post

Friday, 10/08/2012

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=44649&boxid=58945&uid=&dat=2012-08-10

Patiala: Punjab Congress veteran and sitting legislator from Sanaur assembly constituency Lal Singh is gradually emerging as a hot contender for the coveted post of president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee in the event of the present PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh being replaced.

Party sources say that with the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections being over, the central Congress leadership may now focus on the issue of revamping the party in some of the states, including Punjab.

Reports had earlier said Capt Amarinder Singh had been asked to continue till civic body elections in Punjab which were completed recently and the Congress fared poorly. The chant for this replacement grew from within the party after results of the civic bodies were declared.

The leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh as head of the PPCC had come under a cloud following poor showing of the party in the assembly elections in the state in which the Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance created history by staging a comeback and forming government consecutively for the second time.

But he got a breather with the party high command asking him to head the party through the civic body elections. However, the Congress did not well in these elections also.

Two leaders in the race for Punjab Congress presidentship are Partap Singh Bajwa and Jagmeet Singh Brar. Bajwa is a senior leader of the party and hails from Majha area and is presently an MP. He managed a win for his wife in the recently held assembly elections.

Jagmeet Singh Brar is a Congress veteran and has contested against Parkash Singh Badal several times. He is known to be a good orator and has considerable following at the grassroot level.

The third contender for this top slot is Lal Singh who is a veteran Congress and hero of many an electoral battle having won seven assembly elections. He has remained a minister in the governments of Beant Singh, Harcharan Singh Brar and Capt Amarinder Singh.

He was chairman of the PUNSUP during the Darbara Singh regime. He knows the art of selecting the right leader for himself when it comes to taking sides and this is evident from his record of having been a minister in almost all Congress governments in Punjab except for a brief period when Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was the chief minister.

He belongs to the Kamboj community and has good following in Patiala district and hails from Assarpur village on the outskirts of Patiala. He has equal acceptability among Hindus and Sikhs.