Capt.
Capt. Amarinder Singh has been given a virtually free hand in Punjab with appointing AICC secretary Asha Kumari to fill Kamal Nath’s place as party leader in charge of the state ahead of crucial Assembly polls. But Ms Kumari’s appointment has triggered a controversy over her conviction in a land-grab case.
Capt Singh, the Congress’ face in poll-bound Punjab, is PCC chief. Ms Kumari’s appointment is a clear indicator that the AICC has completed a mere formality but relies more on Capt. Singh in the fight against the state’s ruling SAD-BJP combine and the AAP.
Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi said the appointment was “unfortunate and disgusting”. “First it was Kamal Nath, and now Asha Kumari who has been sentenced one year in jail by a court in a case of land grab, that too recently. I think they don’t have good leaders,” he said. The AAP’s head for national organisation building, Durgesh Pathak, said the Congress lacked imagination. “After appointing a person accused of rioting, the Congress has appointed a person convicted in a land-grab case. It shows one thing very clearly: that the Congress has no clean people left.”
Asha Kumari, an MLA from Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by a Chamba court in February this year but is currently out on bail. Assembly elections are due in Punjab next year. She has served in various capacities in the party and as Himachal Pradesh education minister. She had been accused of illegally transferring 60 bighas of forest land belonging to the government in the name of her husband, Brijender Singh, 18 years ago. Mr Singh belonged to the royal family of Chamba.
Party sources had earlier said that in Punjab the leadership could make a temporary appointment of an existing general secretary till a decision is taken on inducting new leaders into the AICC secretariat.
Mr Kamal Nath, a senior Congress leader, quit as AICC leader in charge of Punjab on June 15, within three days of his appointment after the BJP, SAD and AAP created an uproar over his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Mr Nath has denied all allegations.
Ms Kumari was convicted on February 26 and, apart from being given a jail term, was also fined Rs 8,000. The court had held her guilty of criminal conspiracy. The Himachal Pradesh high court suspended the one-year sentence on March 19.
