NEW DELHI: Nearly 70 Punjab Congress MLAs on June 24 met the Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and apprised him of the post Gidderbaha political scenario in the state.
The views of the MLAs were articulated by the Health Minister, Harcharan Singh Brar, and the Finance Minister, Dr. Kewal Krishan.
It was reportedly explained to the Prime Minister that although the Congress party had not been able to win the Gidderbaha assembly by-election, it had put up a very creditable performance in what has always been regarded as a traditional Akali stronghold. The Akali leader, Parkash Singh Badal, had been winning this seat since 1957 except in 1967 when he lost to Harcharan Singh Brar by just 67 votes. This time too, while the winning Akali candidate had polled more than 50,400 votes, the number of votes cast against him exceeded 52,000.
The two leaders referred to the talk of a change of PCC leadership in Punjab in the wake of the defeating the Gidderbaha by-election and said the time was not opportune for such a change at present when the parliamentary elections were round the corner and Punjab was beset with a number of problems.
Although the names of Santokh Singh Randhawa and Dr. Kewal Krishan were being mentioned as possible replacements for Beant Singh as the PCC chief, it was emphasized that he should be allowed to continue to lead the party in the state.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 30, 1995
