NEW DELHI: Dissidents in the Punjab Congress suffered a serious setback as the party high command told them that their demand for the removal of Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar could not be accepted. The high command did not agree to install Buta Singh, a former Union Home Minister and leader of the dissidents as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee either; however, they were told that the Chief Minister will be told to take steps to solve their “genuine grievances.” The fortnight long battle that the dissidents waged against Brar lost last week when Pranab Mukher} Told them that the high command would not succumb to their demand, whatever the consequences.
Mukherjee had been deputed by the Congress President P.V, Narasimha Rao to resolve the crisis after44 party MLAs submitted their resignations to the Speaker of the State Assembly, Hamam Dass Johar to press for the removal Brar. The dissidents had said they would not return to Chandigarh unless their demand for the removal of Brar was accepted.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 10, 1996
