NEW DELHI: Alarmed by the Snowballing hostility between Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and high-profile Youth Congress president Maninder jit Singh Bitta, the Congress high command has enforced a truce between the two, compelling them to accept a compromise formula.
The two leaders who attended a late might meeting convened by AICC general secretary Ahmed Patel here on April 11, agreed to a cease-fire by accepting each other’s major demands, According to the agreement, the YC president has given an assurance not to interfere in the Punjab Congress affairs.
Perturbed by the sudden spate of hostile campaign against him by a Section of party men in Punjab, Bitta, in fact has agreed that unless summoned by the chief minister he would stay away from his home State.
Responding to the youth leader’s gesture, Beant Singh who is also the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCG) president, has agreed to accommodate Bitta’s supporters in the party organization. The first face-off between the two rivals, apparently took place at the behest of the Prime Minister.
The turning point in the Bitta Beant relations was the massive YC demonstration at the Attari check post of the Indo-Pak border near Amritsar. According to observers, the success of the highly publicized demonstration made the YC chief ambitious and the chief minister see red. The flashpoint was reached when Bitta unceremoniously removed Ramesh Singla as the Punjab YC president suspecting him to be a Beant loyalist. In retaliation, the chief minister immediately appointed Singla as a PCC general secretary leaving no doubt about their mutual antagonism.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 15, 1994
