The Congress today managed to pull crowds to its political conference at 'Shaheedi Jor Mela' here, but failed to put up a united show.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, his wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, senior leaders Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Jagmeet Singh Brar, and party's former state unit chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee did not attend the conference.
Asked about the absence of senior party leaders, Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa denied any rift within. "Jakhar could not attend the conference as he is not in the country," he said.
On Amarinder's criticism of him for going public with 36 names of probable candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and for claiming that some of the eight party MPs faced anti-incumbency, Bajwa said, "Some newspapers have carried the stories about Lok Sabha candidates on their own."
He said he had neither publicly opposed any MP nor given views that he was against fielding sitting MPs.
