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Amarinder Singh vs Navjot Sidhu battle reaches Delhi: Punjab CM to meet Congress panel today
Both the chief minister and Sidhu have been at loggerheads for quite some time and have gone public against each other. The party leadership wants a united Congress ahead of assembly elections in Punjab next year.
The Congress party has stepped up its efforts to end the feud between Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and party MLA Navjot Sidhu. The squabble between Singh and Sidhu has left the party leaders worried about its impact on the party’s prospects next year's state polls.
Amarinder Singh reached Delhi on Monday to meet a three-member central committee of the Congress party headed by Mallikarjun Kharge today. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 11am. The chief minister is also expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi but there is no confirmation so far.
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Both the chief minister and Sidhu have been at loggerheads for quite some time and have gone public against each other. Sidhu's rebellion against Singh started after his exit from the state cabinet in 2019 over change in his portfolio. But the bitterness mounted in May after the government suffered a legal setback in a 2015 police firing case.
In his latest attack, Sidhu told Hindustan Times in an interview that the Punjab chief minister lies every day. "He said things about my meetings (with AAP). Has he proved it? What nonsense he is talking about? Talk about issues. Why is he showing his back to issues such beadbi, loan waiver and white paper? What have you done about drugs? Give your report card."
Some leaders opposed to Singh have started distancing themselves from Sidhu after his public attack. “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.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also stepped in to resolve the crisis. He met Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra on Monday and is expected to meet more leaders on Tuesday.
The Kharge-headed AICC panel, with Harish Rawat and former MP JP Aggarwal as its members, has already submitted its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, suggesting the election should be held under the charge of Singh, and Sidhu may be suitably accommodated.
The party leadership wants a united Congress ahead of assembly elections. Some Congress leaders were worried that the continued squabbling may damage the Congress in assembly polls next year, an election it is otherwise expected to win on account of a weakened opposition and widespread farm protests.
Punjab is crucial for Congress as it is one of the few states where the party is in power and the outcome will have an impact on the party's prospects outside the state also.
