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Navjot Sidhu to meet Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi amid Congress infighting
Navjot Sidhu's attacks against Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh started after he quit the state cabinet in 2019. Those attacks have intensified and turned bitter. Congress leaders fear that the ongoing feud can hurt the party in assembly elections next year.
Disgruntled Congress leader from Punjab Navjot Singh Sidhu will meet former party president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on Tuesday. This comes after several meetings between the top Congress leaders and those from Punjab to resolve the ongoing feud between Sidhu and chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Rahul Gandhi has stepped up efforts to resolve the crisis in the Punjab unit of the Congress and has been meeting several leaders from the state at his residence. Vijendra Singla, Rana Gurjit Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Shamsher Singh Dhillon and MLA Lakhvir Singh were among those who met him on Friday.
The leaders told the media after the meeting that decisions were made to strengthen the party ahead of the assembly elections due next year in Punjab. Senior party leaders fear that the bitter feud between the two tall Congress leaders in the state may hurt the party's fortunes in the elections.
Gandhi earlier met Punjab pradesh Congress committee president Sunil Jakhar, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Harish Rawat.
The Congress party has formed a three-member panel headed by Mallikarjun Kharge to resolve the crisis. The panel has already met Amarinder Singh who came to Delhi on a three-day visit. The Punjab chief minister, however, did not meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi.
Sidhu quit the Amarinder Singh cabinet in 2019 over change in his portfolio. But he stepped up his attacks in the last few months. The bitterness mounted in May after the government suffered a legal setback in a 2015 police firing case.
His attacks have been public where Sidhu has called the chief minister a liar and accused him of not doing anything about issues like loan waiver.
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 its prospects outside the state.
Assembly elections in Punjab are scheduled to take place next year.
