Congress suspends two leaders

New Delhi, Aug 14 :

The Congress Thursday suspended its former general secretary Birender Singh and former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar for “gross indiscipline” in a move aimed at curbing dissidence in the party.

A party release said the two have been suspended with immediate effect.

Birender Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, was a senior leader of the party in Haryana, where assembly polls are to be held later this year.

Birender Singh, who was keen to get Haryana Chief Miniser Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda replaced, appears set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Brar, a senior party leader from Punjab, had earlier been issued show-cause notice over his reported comments that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi should take a break (holiday) for two years following the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha election.

The Congress is facing two crucial by-elections in Punjab and the state party leadership saw Brar’s remarks were damaging for the party.

Both Singh and Brar have been part of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party.

The issues concerning Brar and Singh had been referred to the party’s central disciplinary committee.

“The central disciplinary committee has received complaints against Birender Singh, former general secretary of the party and Jagmeet Brar, ex-MP and member AICC that they are deliberately acting in a way calculated to lower the prestige of the party,” a party release said.

“The disciplinary committee on the basis of facts has found them guilty of this act, which amounts to gross indiscipline and recommended that they be suspended from the membership of the party immediately,” the release added.

It said the Congress president has accepted the recommendation of the disciplinary committee and “therefore Singh and Brar have been suspended from the party with immediate effect”.

(IANS)