Congress names 320 Punjab unit office-bearers

After a delay of many months, the Congress Friday announced a 320-strong list of office bearers in the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC).

The new list includes 14 vice presidents, 35 general secretaries, 61 secretaries, 148 executive committee members and 34 permanent invitees.

The party also announced 27 new presidents for various district committees.

The list has come after a gap of nearly nine months after Gurdaspur MP Pratap Singh Bajwa was named the Punjab Congress president in March, replacing former chief minister Amarinder Singh.

The Congress has been in opposition in the state since 2007. It lost in the assembly elections in 2007 and 2012 to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.

Congress sources said that the big list clearly indicated that the party high command was under pressure from top state Congress leaders to include the confidants and supporters of each one.

The top leaders in the factionalised Punjab Congress include former chief ministers Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Bajwa, leader of opposition Sunil Jakhar, Jagmeet Singh Brar, union minister Manish Tewari and others.

Bajwa thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for announcing the list. He said that every section of society had got representation in the state executive and party workers at grass root level have been adjusted.

"With the new list of office bearers, the party would get a boost and face the political challenges with enthusiasm. I call upon all party workers to get ready for the Lok Sabha elections," he said in a statement here.

Bajwa said that he was satisfied with the formation of the executive committee. "It has been formed after due deliberations," he said.