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Amarinder in Delhi to talk to bosses as rift widens in Punjab Congress
Captain to meet Kharge panel on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi starts talking to party MPs, ministers, MLAs from state
As the rift in the ruling Congress in Punjab worsens after former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s latest outburst against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the party high command has stepped up its consultation efforts with the state leaders to put an end to the infighting.
While Amarinder reached Delhi for a meeting with the three-member central committee set up to resolve the rift on Tuesday morning, former Congress president and Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi also started meetings with party MPs, ministers and MLAs from the state. Amarinder has been called by the panel comprising Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge, former Delhi MP Jai Prakash Agarwal and general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat for further discussion to work out an acceptable formula. The revamp of the party’s organizational set-up will also figure in their talks. “The Congress president has sought additional information after the report was submitted,” one of the committee members said. This will be the panel’s second interaction with the two-time chief minister this month. The meeting was fixed before Sidhu, who was targeting him on social media, spoke out after remaining quiet for about two weeks. The CM may meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi but there is no confirmation so far.
Rahul, who had spoken to several legislators for direct feedback earlier this month, has called more than a dozen ministers, MPs and MLAs for one-to-one meetings. They include cabinet ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Charanjit Singh Channi, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana, BB Ashu, MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and MLAs Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka and Kuljit Singh Nagra. Most of them have been critical of the chief minister in recent weeks.
Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Amritsar West MLA Raj Kumar Verka and two others reached the national capital and met Rahul. The remaining leaders, including Randhawa, Bajwa, Sarkaria, Dhillon and Gilzian, will meet him on Tuesday.
Rahul is likely to have a one-to-one meeting with Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar thereafter. The squabble between Amarinder and Sidhu has left the party leaders worried about its impact on the party’s prospects next year’s state polls.
After their meeting with Rahul, both Aujla and Verka said that Sidhu should not have spoken to media about party matters. “The tone and language of his remarks do not behove a senior leader like him. This affects the morale of party workers,” Aujla said.
Rawat said no one should give statements or talk through the media on these issues when the high command is already seized of the matter.
The dissenters have also started distancing themselves from the former minister. “This fight is not about individuals or positions anyone, but about key issues such as justice in sacrilege cases, action against drug cartels and cable and sand mafia and scrapping of power purchase agreements. This is our priority. We are not concerned with Capt versus Sidhu or what he (former minister) gets or does not get,” said two cabinet ministers who are slated to meet Rahul.
