The Congress appears to have woken up to the problem of indiscipline,sending show-cause notices on Monday to senior leaders Sunil Jakhar and K.V. Thomas.
The party’s disciplinary action committee headed by A.K. Antony, which was defunct for years, met on Monday to discuss complaints against former Punjab unit president Jakhar and former Union minister Thomas. Responses have been sought within a week.
While Jakhar has been accused of repeatedly attacking former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Thomas attended the CPM party congress in Kerala in defiance of a party diktat.
Jakhar had said in an interview that the party high command should have known which leader belongs where, a comment seen as derogatory for Channi, a Dalit leader chosen as chief minister.
Jakhar, who believes that Channi was an undeserving candidate for the post, has since clarified that he respects all castes and religions and that his comments were misinterpreted.
Thomas’s case is different. He and party colleague Shashi Tharoor had been invited to the CPM congress. But after party president Sonia Gandhi asked both leaders not to attend it, Tharoor skipped the event. Thomas, however, went ahead.
The Kerala state unit of the Congress had formally issued a statement asking the two leaders not to attend the CPM function. The matter was later taken to Sonia who firmly asked the leaders to abide by the state unit’s decision.
The new Punjab Congress president, Amarinder Singh Brar (Raja Warring), has already indicated that the party will take a tough stand on dissenters who violate party discipline.
“You can raise matters within the party forum; if somebody is not satisfied with the state leadership, he may even approach the central authorities but going public with differences amount to indiscipline,” he said.
The party expelled former Amargarh MLA and Navjot Singh Sidhu loyalist Surjit Dhiman from the party for anti-party activities on Sunday. Dhiman had questioned the appointment of the new state unit chief, calling him inexperienced and corrupt.
He also said that an honest leader like Sidhu was not given the second term as state party chief due to vested interests.
