Jakhar quits as PCC president, CM calls it ‘totally unnecessary’

Chandigarh

Having lost the Gurdaspur seat to BJP’s Sunny Deol, Sunil Jakhar has sent his resignation as Punjab Congress chief to party president Rahul Gandhi, a step which Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh felt was “totally unnecessary”.

In his letter, Jakhar said that despite the support of party’s senior leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Capt Amarinder Singh, he could not retain the seat which he had won in the October 2017 byelections after the demise of BJP MP Vinod Khanna.

Jakhar had then defeated BJP’s Swaran Salaria by a margin of over 1.93 lakh votes. This time he was defeated by actor-turned politician Deol by 82,459 votes. Five years ago, Jakhar, then Punjab Congress Legislature Party leader, had submitted his resignation after losing the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat. His resignation was rejected.

Stressing that the Congress had performed well in Punjab and therefore there was no need for Jakhar to step down, Capt Amarinder Singh said the he had not discussed the issue with him. “Had he discussed the matter with me, I would have categorically advised him against quitting as PPCC president,” he said in a statement.

Explaining further, he said: “Other state Congress presidents have quit taking responsibility for the poor performance of the party in their states. Jakhar led the PPCC to a great showing in these elections, despite the pro-BJP wave across the country. The state Congress needs him to further strengthen the party in Punjab” On Jakhar’s defeat, the CM said the PPCC chief was not to be blamed for it.

“The defeat of Jakhar at the hands of the Bollywood star was unfortunate and simply shows that polity in the country is yet to evolve,” he said, hoping the party high command would reject Jakhar’s resignation, which was clearly “the result of an emotional reaction”.

“Jakhar led the PPCC to a great showing in these elections, despite the pro-BJP wave across the country. The state Congress needs him to further strengthen the party in Punjab,” said Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.