Punjab ministers on Tuesday sought disciplinary action against Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa for raising a "banner of revolt" against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on public platforms.
Reacting to the ministers' demand, Bajwa said he will not be "browbeaten by such tactics" and that he is accountable to the people of Punjab.
The demand for action against Bajwa, a former Pradesh Congress Committee chief, comes days after he said he would not support Singh's leadership for a second term unless action is taken on the desecration of religious texts.
The issue came up for an informal discussion just before a Cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, a government release said.
"All the Punjab ministers on Tuesday demanded disciplinary action by the Congress leadership against Partap Singh Bajwa for raising a banner of revolt against the chief minister on public platforms," it said.
Bajwa dared the chief minister to hold a public debate with him on the issues raised by the ministers and let the people decide.
"My accountability is to the people of Punjab and I shall not be browbeaten by these tactics of Amarinder Singh who could not muster enough courage to rebut my allegations but needed the shelter of his reluctant Cabinet colleagues to do the same," an official statement quoted him as saying.
The ministers pointed out that despite repeated pleas asking him to express his opinions within the party forum, Bajwa continued to criticise Singh and his government in the media and other platforms.
They accused Bajwa of "playing into the hands" of Shiromani Akali Dal and AAP by pitching himself against his own party leadership, especially at a time when the entire opposition was in a "state of disarray", posing no real challenge to the Congress in the state.
"Such rebellion, if not nipped in the bud, could send the wrong message down the rank and file of the Punjab Congress," the ministers said.
"While the Congress is run on democratic principles, where every member has a say, such public display of difference of opinion and mutinous declarations from a senior member are detrimental to the interest of the party," they said.
The ministers said that the chief minister had made it clear from the outset that he was committed to bringing the culprits in the incidents of desecration of religious texts to book, but would not indulge in vindictive politics.
They praised Singh's leadership, saying under the present government, the Congress had swept all elections in the state which clearly showed that people were happy and satisfied with the chief minister.
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