Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. He may also meet some of the central leaders of the Congress later in the day.
The new chief minister, who took over the reins following a bitter exit of Amarinder Singh, is also likely to take up with Modi the central government's decision to postpone paddy procurement by 10 days. Initially, paddy procurement was scheduled to start from Friday.
Channi’s meeting with the PM is tentatively scheduled for 4pm. Soon after taking over as the chief minister, Channi had written to Modi seeking time for a courtesy call. Before this, Channi had made a couple of rounds to the national capital to finalise names for his new cabinet.
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Channi’s visit to Delhi comes amid a major turmoil that has gripped the Punjab unit of the Congress with the surprise resignation of Navjot Singh Sidhu as its president. Channi held a meeting with Sidhu, who is reportedly unhappy with some faces in the latest cabinet, on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Channi’s visit to Delhi comes amid a major turmoil that has gripped the Punjab unit of the Congress with the surprise resignation of Navjot Singh Sidhu as its president. Channi held a meeting with Sidhu, who is reportedly unhappy with some faces in the latest cabinet, on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Several senior Congress leaders have been hitting out at the central leadership, mainly the Gandhis,over its handling of the crisis in Punjab where Assembly election is due in a few months.
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Singh’s meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah and his declaration of leaving the Congress where he said he was adequately humiliated have only added to the grand old party’s woes.
Punjab is one of the three remaining states where the Congress is in power, the other two being Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh -- both faced with as much power-sharing issues within the ruling camp.