Congress rebels demand removal of Punjab CM

The boot was on the other foot in Punjab politics, as the man in the eye of all the trouble, Akali Dal chief Prakash Singh Badal, walked to temporary freedom after being granted bail in a disproportionate assets case, while Chief Minister Amarinder Singh found himself at the centre of a litany of complaints from legislators belonging to his own party, some of whom congregated in Delhi, seeking an audience with party chief Sonia Gandhi to demand his resignation as the chief minister.

Badal had been in jail for a week and was released on bail as a virtual movement overtook Punjab agitating for his release. Several NDA leaders were in the Patiala jail (where he was lodged) over the weekend to hold his hand.

This apparently acted as the catalyst for nearly 30 rebel Congress legislators led by former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal to reiterate their demand to change the Congress leadership and asked Amarinder Singh to step down.

"There is pressure for a change because some people are unhappy with the functioning of the chief minister," said Punjab Congress unit chief HS Hanspal. Hanspal is known to be a supporter of the chief minister.

The dissidents claim the chief minister's economic policies have not worked and are only leading the state deeper into stagflation and debt.

They also say his handling of the Badal episode is inept and has only resulted in uniting the Congress's enemies.

The first chapter of the Congress war in Punjab was kicked off by claims and counterclaims on the relative strength of the two sides.

Claiming the support of 40 legislators of the 65, Bhattal group sources said it was hoping to meet Sonia Gandhi.

But denying the claim of the Bhattal group, political advisor to the chief minister, Rana Sodhi, said, "at the most, the dissident group has the support of 20 legislators."

"The AICC team has heard the grievances of the dissident group. We are now telling them to listen to us. We also might be having problems with the style of functioning of these MLAs," Sodhi said.

"As of now, we are not going in for parading of our MLAs, but if the need be, we will meet the party president and apprise her of our strength," he said.

The dissidents are having discussions with the three-member AICC committee formed to look into the grievances of MLAs.

Sources in the chief minister's secretariat say it is the threat of investigation into a bribery case against Bhattal during her tenure as minister, that is causing her to take a hardline position. Hearing has been set for December 18.