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'Amarinder won't meet Sidhu until he publicly apologises for personal attacks'
The CM’s advisor, Raveen Thukral, said reports of Navjot Singh Sidhu seeking time to meet Amarinder Singh are totally false and the latter’s stance on the matter remains unchanged.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh will not meet newly appointed Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu until he publicly apologised for the personal derogatory social media attacks against him, the CM’s media advisor said on Tuesday. The CM’s advisor, Raveen Thukral, said reports of Sidhu seeking time to meet the chief minister are totally false and the latter’s stance on the matter remains unchanged.
Thukral’s statement that he put out on Twitter came hours after Punjab minister Brahm Mohindra dismissed reports of any personal meeting with Sidhu till he resolved his issues with the chief minister. Mohindra said the party high-command's decision to appoint Sidhu as the state Congress chief is welcome, but Singh is the leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) and he is duty-bound to follow him.
The first such statements that came from Singh’s camp ever since Sidhu’s elevation reveal that the months-long crisis in the Punjab Congress is yet to come to an end ahead of the Assembly election slated to be held next year.
Last week, Singh is said to have informed All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Harish Rawat, who is also in-charge of Punjab, that he will not meet Sidhu until he tendered an apology for his "derogatory" tweets against him.
Earlier in the day, Sidhu went to Amritsar where he received a rousing welcome from his supporters and Congress workers. However, the cricketer-turned-politician was shown black flags by protesting farmers on his arrival at Bhagat Singh Marg in Ludhiana's Nawanshahr.
(With PTI inputs)
