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Sidhu to be crowned as Punjab Congress chief on Friday
No invite has been received by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh so far for the event that is likely to be a low-key affair at party’s Chandigarh headquarter
Navjot Singh Sidhu will formally take over the reins of the Punjab Congress on Friday. Harish Rawat, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and in-charge of Punjab affairs, is expected to arrive here for Sidhu’s coronation as the representative of party’s high command.
The event, likely to be a low-key affair, will be held at the party’s Chandigarh headquarter, and the outgoing president Sunil Jakhar will also be a part of it.
No invite has been received by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh so far for the event, said sources. “It’s an important event and it is the duty of every Congressman to attend it. In the past too, invitations were never sent to anyone in the party for such an event,” said cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.
The minister, once considered as the right-hand man of Captain, has now distanced himself from the CM and thrown his weight behind Sidhu.
Bajwa was also seen with Sidhu, along with his three other cabinet colleagues ----- Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Charanjit Singh Channi --- at the Golden Temple on Wednesday. More than 40 Congress MLAs, out of 80, were also present there.
Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra who has been appointed as one of the four working president, said Rawat has asked everyone to attend the event.
“It’s going to be a big show and we will put up a united face of the Congress,” said a working president, who didn’t want to be quoted.
Amarinder, who had opposed state unit’s top post for Sidhu, has already announced that he would not meet the newly appointed president till he publicly apologises for his derogatory social media attacks against him. Reportedly, Sidhu is in no mood to budge and so far no attempt has been made to reach out to the CM.
