Cong leaders wash dirty linen

PAYAL (Ludhiana): Fissure in the Punjab Congress came to fore on Tuesday when some of the leaders, who are not in the government, pulled up those in office for delay in completion of Beant Singh Memorial in Chandigarh on his ninth death anniversary function at his native village on Tuesday.
With chief minister Amarinder Singh busy in Amritsar to attend celebrations of 400 years of installation of Guru Granth Sahib, it was left to his deputy Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and other senior ministers to hold out promise of getting the project completed soon.
The tongue-lashing was expected in the backdrop of prevailing resentment in Beant Singh''s family and supporters over axing of his son and former transport minister Tej Prakash Singh from the cabinet in the recent downsizing exercise.
Former MP Shamsher Singh Dullo was the first one to raise the issue of non-completion of the memorial despite availability of funds, while other leaders too were unsparing in ruing the delay.
Rajya Sabha member and former Punjab Congress affairs'' in-charge Mohsina Kidwai was also present on the occasion. Dullo went to the extend of saying that the Congress was infested with sycophants.
Firebrand leader Jagmeet Brar said that if Akalis get the project completed, it would an embarrassment for the party. The implication of his comment about return of Akalis to power was not lost on the audience at the well-attended function.
Former Ludhiana MP Gurcharan Singh Galib also did not mince words in saying that Rs 11 crore meant for the project were inexplicably lying unused.
Though none of the speakers named Amarinder Singh for the delay, but import of their words was palpable.