Even though Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh intimated that he will accept Navjot Singh Sidhu as Punjab Congress chief, the internal strife is likely to continue. The CM has stated that he will not meet with the rebel Congress leader unless Siddhu first apologises to him.
On Saturday, the CM declared that he will respect Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s choice on the state Congress chief’s nomination. This means that if Siddhu is named chief by the party’s top command, the CM will accept the decision. However, this does not mean that the issues within the Congress party’s state unit are over, as Captain Singh refuses to forget Siddhu’s harsh remarks about him.
Captain Amarinder Singh has requested that Navjor Singh Siddhu issue a public apology for his abusive comments and Tweets, and has refused to meet with him until he receives one. According to reports, the CM instructed Harish Rawat, the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of Punjab issues.
Rawat is one of three members of a group convened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to address the party’s crisis in Punjab. He met with Amarinder Singh to explore potential candidates for state Congress leader and pushed him to meet with Siddhu as well. The CM, on the other hand, declined to meet with him. “Captain told the state in-charge that he will not meet Siddhu till he issues a public apology for sending out hundreds of insulting tweets and statements in the media against him,” a source in the party said.
However, Amaridner Singh stated that the high leadership has the authority to nominate the state party chief, and that he will respect whatever decision the party makes on the topic. ”Had a very productive discussion with @harishrawatcmuk. Reiterated that any decision made by the President of @INCIndia will be accepted by all. Raveen Thukral, the CM’s media advisor, tweeted, and “Raised several problems which he indicated he’ll take up with @INCIndia president.”
Harish Rawat took a Punjab Government helicopter to Chandigarh on Saturday to meet with party leaders in the state to address the matter. He promised Amarinder Singh that he would be taken into confidence before making any decisions on the state chief issue, but the CM refused to sit in a token meeting with Sidhu for the purpose of delivering a “all is well” message unless Sidhu apologised.
The CM also told Rawat, according to insiders, that he is dissatisfied with the manner the high command is handling the situation. Premature announcements were made, and stories were leaked to the media, he said.
Siddhu has been accusing Amarinder Singh of various wrongdoings for several months. He has accused the Chief Minister of cooperating with the Badals of Akali Dal, who are accused of running a mafia raj in Punjab, and of failing to act on sacrilege crimes. Several state leaders are unhappy with Siddhu for making such a public outburst against his own government, but the high command is unwilling to take action against him because of the upcoming elections.
Despite the fact that the top command is in favour of choosing Siddhu as the party’s state chief, it has been unable to reach a definitive decision due to significant resistance from Amarinder Singh, the party’s most senior member.
It would be interesting to see how table turns in upcoming days as Punjab election is very important for each party and everyone will play their cards according to election.
