Amid party turmoil in Punjab, Congress's Sukhjinder Randhawa meets Amit Shah
Amid unrest in the Punjab Congress after the party's recent organisational reshuffle, senior leader Sukhjinder Randhawa met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi
Amid unrest in the Punjab Congress after the party's recent organisational reshuffle, senior leader Sukhjinder Randhawa met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday and raised what he described as the deteriorating law and order situation in the border state. The meeting came as the Punjab Congress faced internal dissension after the party leadership decided to retain Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as state unit chief. Supporters of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi gathered at his residence in Morinda, while several former MLAs have been demanding that he be made the state president. Read Full Story Randhawa, a former Punjab deputy chief minister, later told reporters that he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi nearly a month ago about gangsters ruling the state, extortion and "Pak- narco-terrorism", especially in Punjab's border districts.
He said his meeting with Shah followed that letter and a separate representation to the home minister on the decline in law and order, as well as the "political alignment" and "political weaponisation" of the Punjab Police. He said he had alerted Modi to incidents in the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Pathankot. Randhawa added that the Centre has military intelligence, RAW, the CBI and the Intelligence Bureau to check such activities. Quoting his exchange with Shah, he said, "The home minister asked me if he had spoken to the DGP of the state.... Extortions are happening and those in jails are speaking through mobiles. Talk is also going on about looting elections with the help of goons and gangsters." He also said, "I asked the minister about the role of the Centre in checking this.
It cannot run away from this threat to national security as Pakistan is directly involved." On the turmoil within the Congress, Randhawa said, "It certainly hurts when all this is happening after a list comes out. I have the habit of speaking out the truth, and I don't know what it means." He added, "This situation is not so bad as you think. But, it is a matter to ponder that it should not have come to this. It is unfortunate that after so many meetings, people are still not satisfied." He said Congress observer Ajay Maken could answer what report he had submitted to the party high command on changes in the state unit. Channi is said to be unhappy at not being appointed to the post and is learnt to have not made a customary call to thank the party leadership after the announcement.
The BriefWire