Rumblings in Cong: Central leadership watching situation in Punjab, says Venugopal

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the issue is strictly an organisational matter and the party high command is aware of the developments

Amid raging infighting in its state unit in Punjab, the Congress on Friday said the party leadership is watching the developments in the state and will take a call on the situation.

Rumblings in Cong: Central leadership watching situation in Punjab, says Venugopal

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the issue is strictly an organisational matter and the party high command is aware of the developments. “Of course, internally, we are watching the situation in Punjab and the high command will take a call on that,” he told reporters at a virtual press briefing when asked about the internal bickering in the state unit with chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and former state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu openly hitting out at each other.

Sidhu, Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa and a couple of party MLAs have been openly targeting the chief minister ever since the Punjab and Haryana high court quashed the SIT report in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case. They are blaming the chief minister and his aides for the legal setback and seeking the party central leadership’s intervention.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Thursday cautioned party workers to be wary of leaders fuelling dissent to further their own agenda even as Sidhu gave a call to party MLAs to go to Delhi and tell the high command about the real situation in the state.

There has been speculation about the constitution of a three-member committee to resolve the differences between the warring groups, but party leaders in Delhi and Punjab denied having any information in this regard.