CHANDIGARH: The supporters of Punjab Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar were prepared to prove their strength in the numbers game on the occasion of the rally being Organized on the birthday of Congress president P.V. Narasimha Rao at New Delhi on June 28 even as the dissidents seem to be in no mood to relent. The rally was being organized by All India Youth Congress president Maninderjit Singh Bitta and efforts are on to mobilize maximum number of people from Punjab, Bitta has invited Brar to address the rally, All the MLAs supporting the Chief Minister would attend the rally to show their strength. The dissidents, who are demanding change in leadership, on the other hand, continue to camp in Delhi despite the advice of the party high command to return to their State. Sources in the dissidents camp Said they were pressing the high command for seeking resignation of Brar from the leadership of the Congress Legislature Party before Sending observer to Chandigarh to assess the situation.
Though Minister of State for Information and Public Relations, Partap Singh Bajwa, recently denied that the party high command had decided to depute an observer to listen to the MLAs individually. Sources said Pranab Mukerjee, who is handling the present crisis, had conceded this demand of the dissidents at a meeting with them after the departure of the Chief Minister from Delhi. Sources said the dissidents were also insisting that the high command should announce the name of the observer. Mukerjee would take up the issue of selecting the observer with Rao, it is learnt. Former Union Minister Butta Singh, one of the leaders spearheading the dissidents, had even recently booked 14 rooms at the Chandigarh Union Territory guest house in anticipator of the visit of the observer.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1996
