Sonia Gandhi Dissolves Punjab Congress Committee, State Unit Chief Jakhar Remains

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday dissolved the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and all district committees in the state with immediate effect. However, the party has retained the state unit president Sunil Jakhar. Congress took the decisions a day after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met Gandhi here and held detailed discussions with her.

The Congress president has dissolved "executive committee of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and District Congress Committees (DCCs) of Punjab with immediate effect. The president of the Punjab PCC shall remain unchanged," the statement said.

The party has also set up an 11-member committee for ensuring better coordination between the party and the government in Punjab, with AICC in-charge for Punjab Asha Kumari as its chairperson.

"Congress president has constituted a coordination committee for Punjab for better coordination with the party and the government," an official communication said.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and AICC secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari were also present during the meeting between Amarinder Singh and Sonia Gandhi on Monday.

This paves the way for a revamp of the Punjab Congress which may see many new faces in the party.

The coordination committee will have Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and PCC president Sunil Jakhar as its members besides AICC general secretary Ambika Soni.

The Congress wants that the promises made by the party during assembly elections be implemented properly in a time-bound manner in all the states ruled by it.

It will also have Punjab ministers Charanjit Singh Channi, Sunder Sham Arora, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Vijay Inder Singla besides PCC general secretary Sandeep Singh Sandhu and AICC secretaries Kuljit Nagra and Gurkirat Kotli.

The committee was announced after Congress president Sonia Gandhi cleared the names following deliberations with Amarinder Singh and senior party leaders on Monday.

It comes a day after the party announced similar committees for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry which are all under the Congress rule.