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Uproar at key Punjab Congress meet in Amritsar; Navjot Sidhu missing again
Rift in Punjab Congress unit as unruly scenes witnessed during meeting on Lok Sabha poll strategy. Tussle between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu continues.
Rift in the Punjab Congress unit came out in the open once again when unruly scenes were witnessed during a key meeting called by party affairs in-charge Devendra Yadav to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha poll strategy and take feedback from the party’s rank and file on Monday.
This comes amid an ongoing tussle between state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former MP and senior leader Navjot Singh Sidhu over latter’s rallies. Both Warring and leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa have been quite vocal against Sidhu’s parallel events, complaining to the party bosses about the ‘indiscipline’.
Sidhu, however, remains defiant and despite state unit chief’s warning has held four rallies attacking not only the state government but also certain leaders of Congress for being ‘inefficient’.
Both Warring and Bajwa were present in Sunday’s meeting held at the office of the district Congress committee (rural). Sidhu was conspicuous by his absence. On Sidhu’s absence, Warring said: “Every leader doesn’t need to be in front of the camera.” Sidhu has represented Amritsar thrice in Lok Sabha (2004, 2007 bypoll and 2009), on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket and then was elected as MLA from the Amritsar East assembly segment on Congress ticket in 2017.
The uproar started when some workers, who were supporters of former deputy chief minister OP Soni suggested that a Hindu face should be fielded this time from the Amritsar segment.
Without naming Soni, the supporters said in the wake of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, picking a Hindu face would be more prudent for the party, said one of the leaders, who attended the meeting but didn’t wish to be named.
Soon after, a group of workers started opposing the idea of picking a candidate on communal lines. This led to a heated exchange with leaders at the dais having a hard time controlling the workers.
Sitting MP Gurjit Singh Aujla minced no words while decrying the idea. “The Congress is a secular party. Religion should not be brought into these matters. There are no Sikhs and Hindus there. There is no caste”, Aujla said as the uproar began. He added: “Party will decide about the candidature, and all workers will abide by it.”
On January 27, the state Congress unit had suspended former MLA Maheshinder Nihalsingwala and his son Dharam Pal Singh, who were the organisers of Sidhu’s Moga rally.
