Congress candidate from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat Mohinder Singh Kaypee today managed to bring together the leaders of three local party factions who had been at daggers drawn since long.
Kaypee, a former president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), held closed-door parleys for over 40 minutes with the three faction leaders -- PPCC general secretary and former minister Joginder Singh Mann,former Kapurthala district unit chief Harjit Singh Parmar and party's state executive committee member Balbir Raja Sodhi.
The meeting was held at the residence of Parmar. Phagwara is an Assembly segment under the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat.
Kaypee, accompanied by these leaders, later told reporters that all the factions had buried their hatchets and declared to unitedly campaign for him.
He said he would also call on sitting MP and Union minister Santosh Chowdhary within a day or two to persuade her to join his campaign. Chowdahry has been denied ticket from Hoshiarpur this time.
When his attention was drawn to another sulking ticket aspirant Shamsher Singh Dullo, Kaypee said it was the party high command which had shifted him from Jalandhar to Hoshiarpur. "I have not upstaged anyone but followed high command's directive," he said.
On Captain Amarinder Singh's suggestion for an acting state unit chief during polls, Kaypee said it was for the party high command to decide. He admitted that infighting within Congress had given opportunity to Akalis to come to power for a second time.
"Congressmen has realised it now and they will unitedly give a run to SAD-BJP alliance in current polls," he said.
Maintaining that AAP was not in any reckoning, Kaypee said his main fight was with BJP candidate Vijay Sampla.
Kaypee, who will file his nomination papers on April 7, said his party would improve its last year's tally of eight MPs from Punjab.
