Punjab Bjp Also Marred By ‘Factionalism’

Hectic efforts are on in the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to grab the post of State party chief after the declaration of November 20 as deadline to elect the new State president. The current incumbent, Kamal Sharma, is facing opposition from both outside and inside the party after the alleged involvement of his close aides in the drug-related matters. Adding more to his troubles, his detractors within the party have started making arduous efforts to oust him from the top post. The saffron party, like other opposition parties in the State including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has also been marred by factionalism, though it was not out in open like others. BJP too is divided in two power centres, one represented by the state BJP chief Kamal Sharma, Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi and former Minister Tikshan Sud, and another by party’s national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna, Union Minister Vijay Sampla, and former Minister Manoranjan Kalia.