LUDHIANA: The Congress high command accepted the resignation of Mr. Virendra Kataria, MP and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). According to information available, the resignation of Mr. Kataria had been secured. According to sources close to the Congress high command, Mr. Bal Ram Jakhar, a former Union Agriculture Minister, who is op posed to Mr. Kataria, met the Congress president, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, and suggested that Mr. Santokh Singh Randhawa be appointed new president of the PPCC. The sources further disclose that the name of Mr. R.L. Bhatia has also been suggested as successor to Mr. Kataria.
The Chief Minister, Mr. H.S. Brar, is understood to have recommended the names of Mr. Vinod Sharma, Mr. Gurcharan Singh Galib and Mr. Gurmail Singh. Mrs. Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, MP from Gurdaspur, is deadly against Mr. Randhawa and she is likely to oppose his candidature. The exercise to appoint a new PCC chief for the state has begun and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee is assisting Rao in the matter. While Jakhar was already gunning for Kataria the latter’s strong criticism of Pilot over the Nabha rally has also boomer aged against him. Sources dis close that an indignant Pilot took up the issue with Rao and this together with Jakhar’s complaint prompted the party president to take action against Kataria. Jakhar had accused Kataria of having sabotaged his son’s Lok Sabha election campaign and a show cause notice had been issued to the PCC chief by the disciplinary committee of the party in this regard. Kataria in turn had hit back at Jakhar and accused him of misusing his position as vice president of the party’s disciplinary committee. Rao had held the issue in abeyance as he wanted to use the removal of Kataria as a bargaining point with Jakhar. However, with Rajesh Pilot taking strong exception to Kataria criticizing a CWC member for addressing a party rally the matter came to a head. Kataria had also been at loggerheads with Punjab Chief Minister Harcharan Singh and dissidence in the state unit of the party had flared up after he took over as PCC chief.
After the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, although Rao had assured Brarth at Kataria would be replaced the issue got sidetracked following a fresh bout of dissident activity. Gurdaspur MP Sukhbans Kaur and Amritsar MP R.L. Bhatia had come out strongly in favor of Kataria in order to oppose Brar the Jakhar factor had also weighed on Rao’s mind and he had decided to retain Kataria till an opportune time. Meanwhile Kataria has also launched a action in his defense and sources disclose that he has re quested AICC general secretary R.K. Dhawan to plead his case. The PCC chief is at present touring Punjab and is continuing with the party’s enrollment drive and his meeting with the DCC chiefs. According to Congress sources the timetable for these meetings had already been fixed in advanced and Kataria is expected to complete his schedule.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 18, 1996
