Malout rally ruckus: Congress leaders face disciplinary action

In the aftermath of a chaotic scene during the Congress rally held in Malout town on May 23, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has served show-cause notices to a local municipal councillor and his cousin, asking them to respond within three days. The committee has also recommended action against a delegate of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).

The incident, which involved a brief ruckus over access to the stage during the party’s ‘Samvidhan Bachao Rally’, was widely circulated on social media.

The rally was addressed by both PCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and co-in-charge of the party’s Punjab affairs, Ravindra Dalvi, but they were yet to arrive at the venue at the time of the incident.

According to the notices issued by the DCC president Shubhdeep Singh Bittu, PCC delegate Advocate Jaspal Singh Aulakh, along with municipal councillor Ashwani Khera and his cousin Jugraj Khera, defied directives from the PCC and created a disturbance at the rally, thereby tarnishing the party’s image and causing significant damage.

 

The disciplinary action against Aulakh has been recommended to the Congress high command. Meanwhile, Ashwani and Jugraj have been directed to submit a written explanation within three days, failing which strict disciplinary measures will follow.

Speaking over the phone on Thuesday, Advocate Jaspal Singh Aulakh denied any involvement in the ruckus. “I have received a show-cause notice from the PCC and already given my statement before a two-member committee. I am a traditional Congressman and was invited by our constituency in-charge, Rupinder Kaur Ruby, to join the stage. However, some people standing there pushed me and a few others away. That is all that happened,” he said.

He claimed that those who had come from other parties were not familiar with the Congress culture.

Meanwhile, some Congress workers claimed that the photo of Rupinder Kaur Ruby was not displayed on the main hoarding at the stage, which angered them. They also alleged an internal tussle between two factions of the party in the Malout Assembly segment.

Notably, during his public address at the rally that day, Raja Warring repeatedly appealed to the gathering to maintain discipline so as to help the party return to power in the state in 2027. He even said that this brief unruly scene would overshadow the entire event.

Bathinda