Amarinder takes over as Punjab Congress chief

CHANDIGARH - Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh Friday took charge as the state Congress president at a function attended by thousands of party supporters who drove into the city, leading to chaos on several roads.

After the function, Amarinder Singh said that the Congress would soon begin a campaign against the “misrule” of the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine in Punjab.

The Punjab Congress building complex in Sector 15 was thronged by Congress supporters for the function, forcing the police to block a 1 km stretch of the road alongside.

Minor traffic jams were reported from some parts of the city while traffic moved at a slow pace in other areas.

“It was complete chaos on the roads. The police were too few in number to control the traffic and manage the Congress supporters,” businessman Adarsh Sharma told IANS.

School buses carrying children were stranded at some places, causing concern among parents as students reached home late.

Vehicles of Congress supporters, including SUVs, pick-up vehicles, trucks and buses were parked as far as 2 km from the Congress party office building as thousands of supporters turned up to join the function.

Amarinder Singh’s government was ousted from power March 2007 when the Akali Dal BJP alliance won the Punjab assembly elections.

Assembly elections in the state are now scheduled in March 2012.

Congress MP from Ludhiana and the party’s national spokesman Manish Tewari and former chief minister and present leader of opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, whose political differences with Amarinder Singh are well known, were present on the occasion.