Responding to Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring’s statement that former Congress veteran Sunil Jakhar could have also taken his nephew Sandeep Jakhar to the saffron party, Congress’ Abohar MLA declared that he would not resign from the grand old party.
Sandeep Jakhar, in fact, maintained that the party can expel him “if they want”. Sandeep Jakhar is the nephew of Punjab Congress’ former president and party veteran Sunil Jakhar, who recently joined the saffron party, and is Congress MLA from Abohar.
A day before, Warring had dared his predecessor Sunil Jakhar to make his nephew resign from his MLA post and join the BJP if he considers himself a “big leader”. Warring’s dare came after Jakhar engineered the induction of four former Congress Ministers — Balbir Singh Sidhu, Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora, and Gurpreet Singh Kangar — in the saffron brigade.
“I will continue to serve Abohar as their MLA as they placed their trust in me despite a very strong wave of change...I will not resign...If they want to throw me out, it is up to them,” said Sandeep Jakhar.
Sandeep Jakhar demanded that the party should adopt same yardstick for everyone, while pointing that Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa’s brother is in BJP. “The Party should question Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also, as Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi, who are the members of the Gandhi family, are in the BJP. CLP leader Bajwa’s brother Fateh Jang Bajwa is also in the BJP. So there should be the same yardstick for everyone,” he said.
LEADERS WHO BETRAYED CONG TO REGRET THEIR DECISION SOON: WARRING
Punjab Congress chief Warring lashed out at all those party leaders who deserted the party and defected to the BJP saying that there can be no defence against betrayal and all those who had betrayed the party will soon regret their decision.
Warring, addressing a public meeting in Hoshiarpur on Sunday along with AICC secretary Harish Chaudhary, working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Capt Sandeep Sandhu, Deputy CLP leader Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon, among others, said that local leader Sham Sunder Arora had not only betrayed the Congress party, but tens of thousands of workers who had supported him in thick and thin during all these years.
“These leaders had apparently joined the BJP for protection as their past misdeeds have started haunting them,” he said while admitting that the Congress party should have taken action against such people when reports against them had come. “If our party had acted that time, we would not have faced what we are facing today”, he said.
Earlier addressing the workers, Warring told them that every challenge throws up an opportunity. “People like Arora may have turned out to be rank opportunists, but this has thrown open the opportunity for other deserving people whose progress had been blocked,” he said adding that all those who had deserted the party will soon regret their decision as people will never forgive them for this betrayal.
The state congress chief told the workers and local leaders that the party will always stand by them and the new leader, who will lead them, will emerge from the grassroots only. “And you all will choose that leader and not someone sitting in Chandigarh”, he said amidst a thumping applause.
