File photo of former Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh's new campaign to reach out to the masses has incensed his Congress party colleagues.
Defying orders of the state Congress, Mr Singh has decided to go ahead with his 12-day mass contact program.
Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa has repeatedly said that the programme "will be detrimental to the party as it promotes an individual at the cost of the party organisation."
Mr Singh, who is the deputy leader of the Congress in Parliament, is launching his program from Jalandhar. On Tuesday, the state unit issued show-cause notice to three leaders.
Mr Singh and Mr Bajwa have been locked in a bitter battle for control of party affairs in the state for over a year now, but the leadership in Delhi has maintained a studied silence.
According to leaders close to Mr Singh, the mass contact program will focus on highlighting failures of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) - BJP combine in the state. They claim that these meetings will generate momentum and boost the morale of party's rank and file.
The state Congress disagrees. Party leaders Karan Kaur Brar, Jagbir Singh Brar and Satnam Singh Kainth, who have been at the forefront of Mr Singh's campaign, have been given 15 days to explain what has been described as "non-co-operation" with the Punjab Congress.
Mr Singh, popularly known as the Captain, has not commented on speculation that he is on the verge of leaving the Congress to launch his own regional party ahead of the 2017 assembly polls in the state.