Noting that his removal as Punjab Congress chief "will not be a big price" if the party wins the 2017 Assembly election, Partap Singh Bajwa today asked his successor Amarinder Singh to "work hard" and "fight as one" to win the high-stake polls.
Bajwa, who was last week replaced by former chief minister Singh, described his removal as "temporary setback" and said his "sacrifice will not be a big price if party wins polls in 2017".
"We will have to fight as one as there is going to be a tough challenge (in assembly polls). We need to do hard work and fight as one to achieve our goal as people now have an alternative because Aam Aadmi Party is there. They have government in Delhi and they have four MPs in Punjab," Bajwa said here.
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"Last time (during 2012 assembly polls), there was no other option with the people," he said.
Listing out priorities for the new leadership, Bajwa said that the first priority for the party is to save the state. "Punjab needs to be saved first which is the first priority because Punjab cannot go in for a third political disaster," he said.
Congress had faced two successive defeats in Punjab in 2007 and 2012 assembly polls when Singh was state party president.
Bajwa said the party workers who had faced "traumatic" experience during the SAD-BJP rule in the state should also be protected from the "oppression" of the ruling party.
Asked how he saw his removal, he said, "I do not see it as permanent setback. I see it as temporary setback. If my party wins elections in Punjab then I will see my sacrifice was worth of something. That will not be a big price if with sacrifice of mine, party wins polls."
Asserting that he has always remained a "loyal solider" of the party, Bajwa said he never indulged in "self-driven and self-centered" politics.
"I have a big future ahead of me. This in not the end of the road," he said, advising the new state leadership of the party to "work hard" to help the party in wining elections.
"Amarinder should act as father figure and he must be more magnanimous," he said.
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Asked about his role in the party, the former Gurdaspur MP said, "I will be playing the role of a gardener. I will be watering and ensure harvest reaches safe and sound."
Bajwa said he would be attending the Bathinda rally, where former chief minister will take over as the state Congress chief. "I got a call from Amarinder two-three days back in this regard and I will go there," he said.
Following a challenge thrown by SAD president Sukhbir Badal to hold a rally in Bathinda, Singh had announced to hold a rally in Bathinda which is a Akali bastion.
Though the date of rally is yet to finalised, party sources said that it was likely to be held on December 13.
A meeting to decide about the details of the rally by Punjab Congress will be held in Patiala on December 3.
In this meeting, Congress party leaders including MLAs of Malwa region will participate to finalise the details.
Tomorrow, Singh will visit Amritsar and pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Swami Ramtirath.
The Amritsar MP was appointed as the new Punjab PCC chief and senior leader Ambika Soni made head of the Campaign Committee in a major reshuffle of the party's state unit announced on November 27 ahead of 2017 Punjab Assembly polls.
Singh had been locked in a bitter factional fight with Bajwa for more than a year after having first demanded his replacement in November last year.
