CHANDIGARH: With Punjab Congress working on finalising the new organisational structure ahead of the next assembly polls, it is likely to introduce a new formula wherein the district presidents will be kept out of the list of party candidates. Besides, there are also plans to appoint at least three general secretaries for Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions for coordination with the working presidents.
Sources said the move to appoint district presidents not aspiring for party tickets will help in getting their undivided attention during the course of election campaign and also ensure continuity in the organisation after the results are out. “The party high command has indicated such an arrangement and the state leadership is considering this option. The proposal will be sealed in case consensus emerges in the coming days,” said a senior party leader.
PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu has been holding regular meetings with the four working presidents to discuss the new executive party unit. The new party structure is likely to be unveiled in a week’s time. “In most cases, the team put in place by the previous district president is not able to gel well with the successor, in case the party wins in that area. The proposal will tackle such a scenario. There is also a suggestion that working district presidents be appointed at places where the distinction between district president and party candidate is not clear,” said another leader.
Ahead of the last assembly election in 2017, Congress had come up with a ‘one family, one-ticket’ rule. It was strictly implemented with families of senior leaders, with Lal Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa having to settle for only one candidature.
During the visit of AICC in charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat to Chandigarh on September 1, Sidhu had assured him that the new PPCC body will be ready in a fortnight. Jalandhar (Cantonment) MLA Pargat Singh has already been appointed the general secretary (organisation) by Sidhu.
As part of the rejig, an attempt would be made to rebuild various frontal organisations of Punjab Congress to focus on various communities during the poll campaign. “It will be a tightrope walk to come up with a please-all PPCC body. Earlier, lists of names were finalised by previous PPCC president Sunil Jakhar but it was never approved by the party’s central leadership, even though the previous executive of PPCC was dissolved. Since then the party has been without an organisational structure in the state,” said a party leader.
