Amarinder Singh appointed Punjab Congress president

The Congress on Friday appointed Amarinder Singh the president of its Punjab uni, ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly elections.

The decision was taken in the wake of resignation of Pratap Singh Bajwa from the post.

"Lal Singh has been appointed senior vice president and (former union minister) Ambika Soni the chairperson of the campaign committee for the 2017 Punjab assembly elections," said a party statement released by party leader Janardan Dwivedi.

Sadhu Singh Dharamsot will be the committee vice chairman and Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu will be its convener, the release said.

Amarinder is the party MP from Amritsar and deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha.

Bajwa was made the Punjab Congress chief in early 2013 but could not take the top party leadership along. He and Amarinder Singh indulged in a war of words in the media.

In the 2014 general elections, Bajwa lost from the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency while Amarinder triumphed over BJP candidate Arun Jaitley, now the union finance minister, by over one lakh votes in Amritsar.