There was a twist in the Punjab Congress saga as former party chief Rahul Gandhi this evening denied there was any meeting scheduled with Navjot Singh Sidhu even as the cricketer-turned-politician had headed to Delhi to meet him.
Sidhu, who is at the centre of a political storm in Punjab after his no-holds-barred attack on Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, left from his Patiala home around 11 am this morning, supposedly for a scheduled meeting with Rahul.
Media persons, in anticipation of the much-hyped meet, gathered at Rahul's Tughlaq Lane residence. However, Rahul, as he left for Congress President Sonia Gandhi's residence in the evening, paused to ask the media what they were waiting for. When told they were there to cover his meeting with Sidhu, he said there was no such meeting scheduled. Sidhu's response to the unexpected development could not be immediately procured.
There was much speculation over Sidhu's visit to Delhi and whether the Gandhis were stepping in to end the feud between Sidhu and Amarinder in the run-up to the Assembly elections that are just months away. There was a feeling that Sidhu was being given a long rope despite his attacks on the chief minister and Amarinder on the other hand had been snubbed, and handed a list of measures to undertake within a particular time-frame. It was also discussed that while Amarinder, during his recent three-day visit to Delhi, did not have a meeting with either the Congress president or Rahul, he was meeting Sidhu.
As discontentment in the state Congress grew after the Punjab and Haryana High Court in April this year quashed the SIT probe into the sacrilege issue, Sidhu had come out of his hibernation to launch an onslaught against Amarinder, holding him responsible for the court's adverse order and accusing him of helping the Badals go scot-free in the case.
As the party high command sought to defuse the crisis in Punjab Congress, Rahul held a series of meetings with MLAs, ministers and other leaders from the state. It was speculated if his meeting with Sidhu was also in the same trend.
It is learnt that Sidhu, upset over being sidelined by Amarinder, is keen on being appointed state Congress president. The chief minister is not expected to be amenable to giving Sidhu the post.
