Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will on Tuesday meet a three-member Congress panel in Delhi, which is attempting to end the factionalism in the state party unit ahead of Assembly polls next year.
Amarinder will meet the AICC panel headed by Mallikarjun Kharge, and with AICC general secretary in-charge Harish Rawat and former MP J.P. Aggarwal as its members. The panel had submitted a report to the Congress leadership that suggested the Congress fight the Assembly polls next year under the leadership of Amarinder, while Navjot Singh Sidhu, his bitter critic, be “suitably accommodated”.
Sidhu had quit the Amarinder cabinet in 2019 and had indicated he was not ready to work under Amarinder even though the post of deputy chief minister was mooted for him. Sidhu has, reportedly, been eyeing the post of Punjab Congress Committee chief.
The Tribune reported that Sidhu was all set to skip the AICC meeting. However,Sidhu denied the report and tweeted it was propaganda. On Monday, Sidhu had hit out at Amarinder. Sidhu was quoted by NDTV as asking, "Who is he (Amarinder) to close doors to Navjot Singh Sidhu? He lost three elections, he lost his deposit and later Madam Sonia (Gandhi) makes him the party president. He threatened to split the party."
Sidhu claimed "all 78 MLAs (of the Congress)" are with him and alleged he was used as a "showpiece" during elections.
Meanwhile, The Tribune reported former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is expected to meet on Tuesday PCC chief Sunil Jakhar, six Cabinet ministers (Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sukh Sarkaria, Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Razia Sultana, Charanjit Channi and Bharat Bhushan Ashu) and MLAs Sangat Singh Gilzian, Raja Warring, Pargat Singh, Kikki Dhillon, Tarsem Singh and Inderbir Bolaria. The legislators that Rahul is meeting are considered critics of Amarinder.
On Monday, Rahul had met Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra.