Punjab Congress leaders on Thursday made an impassioned appeal to top leader Rahul Gandhi that he will have to be the party's prime ministerial face and "not any proxy" and that "opportunistic" people from outside should not be allowed into the party.
The appeals came from Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Legislature Party leader Pratap Singh Bajwa and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa at a rally on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra here, a day after former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal quit the party to join BJP on Wednesday.
In the presence of Rahul and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Bajwa was the first to rake up the issue of prime ministership.
Even as Rahul has skipped the questions on who will be the prime ministerial candidate during press conferences, Bajwa directly addressed the issue saying, "Rahul-ji, you will have to be the prime ministerial candidate. There should be no proxy. Proxy rule has damaged us." Bajwa did not elaborate on who he meant by "rule through proxy".
Bajwa also had a word of advice to the top leadership following Badal's exit, as he mentioned that such imports were getting prominence in the party but was leaving it high and dry.
Manpreet, who quit Akali Dal, formed his own party and merged it with Congress, always had 'khakhi knickers' underneath his trousers, Bajwa alleged.
Warring, who had a running battle with Manpreet, also said the party has to be careful of opportunistic leaders who come from other parties. "Even when we buy an animal, we do a thorough check on it," he said.
Randhawa said the party should not bring in "wrong" people as it hurts the sentiments of party workers when they try to destroy the party. He said only those leaders who are preferred by the workers should get a promotion.
(Published 19 January 2023, 15:14 IST)
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