CHANDIGARH: After a short truce, the rebels in the Punjab Congress Sept. 1st again trained their guns against Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar, though the issue this time is different. The visit of former Union minister Rajesh Pilot to Nabhat Patiala district last week, is the immediate provocation. Significantly, for the first time, Pradesh’ Congress Committee president Virendra Kataria and All India Youth Congress chief and Trans port Minister Maninderjit Singh Bitta have come out openly with the rebels led by Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, In a veiled attack on the Chief Minister, Bhatal, Bitta and several ministers and MLAs, in a signed statement, urged the Congress president and former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to take note of the official machinery used for the visit. They alleged, the purpose of the visit was to destabilize the party in the state through mudslinging and malicious remarks against the party central leadership demanded a strong disciplinary action against Pilot for making derogatory remarks in the ice of Cabinet colleagues of Brar. They lodged their strong protest at, what they described as, the highly irresponsible, mischievous and uncalled for re marks against Rao made by Pi lot at the Nabha farmers rally. The rally was organized by Ramesh Singla, who won the last Assembly election as Congress rebel from Nabha and is now in the Brarcamp. The move to appoint Singla as chairman of a public sector undertaking last week was strongly opposed by Bitta. Bitta shifted his loyalty a few days back and came out against Brar on the Pilot issue, giving an indication that the party high command was not happy with Brar. The Brar supporters maintain that the Pilot issue was sorted out by Brar at a meeting with Rao earlier this week.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 4, 1996
