Sampla doesn’t inform about his functions in my constituency: Phagwara MLA

Phagwara: Personal differences between Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla and party’s Phagwara MLA Som Parkash came to the fore again on Thursday with the latter remaining conspicuous by his absence at all the functions attended by Sampla in Phagwara on the day.
When asked about his absence, Som Parkash said he was not informed by Sampla or his aides of his visit to Phagwara.
“Samplaji invited all those to his functions who opposed me during the assembly election and made desperate efforts to defeat me but he has never informed or invited me to his functions. What has happened on Thursday is not new, in the past few months after assembly elections this has been his usual practice,” Som Parkash alleged.
“While I am not even invited to his functions, those, who left no stone unturned to work against me in the assembly elections, are seen with him,” he said.
“The usual practice or protocol is that then when the party leader visits constituency of the party MLA, he informs the latter and invites. In this case even that basic courtesy is missing,” he alleged.
Earlier in the day, Sampla, who represents the Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency of which Phagwara assembly segment is a part, inaugurated the newly-built stadium of Guru Nanak College, Sukhchainana; attended functions at: Jain Model School, local bar association office and Ucha Pind.
Bitterness between Sampla and Som Parkash pre-dates the Punjab assembly elections as the former wanted ticket for ex-BJP minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram’s son Mohan Lal. However, Som Parkash managed to retain his ticket and also won the election.
Phagwara is the only seat which the SAD-BJP alliance won in the Sampla’s parliamentary constituency during the Punjab assembly polls. After the election, a bitter feud took place between the supporters of Sampla and Som Parkash in Hadiabad area and cases were registered against both sides.
When contacted, Sampla refused to comment on his differences with Som Parkash.