Congress panel to meet Captain Amarinder Singh as Sidhu remains adamant

After about a two-month-long row against CM Amarinder Singh, Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, yesterday, discussed with the three-member committee appointed to resolve the ongoing feud, asserting that his stand is unchanged and he has raised the voice of people at the grassroots level to the high command, writes Niyamika Singh.

New Delhi: Continuing the firefighting efforts to appease the rebel MLAs of Punjab, the recently formed three-member Congress committee, on Tuesday, held talks with cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been launching tirades against the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for months. While Sidhu reiterated that he is still firm on his stand, he also stated that he has come to voice the concerns of people at the grassroots level.

More than 30 Punjab Congress MLAs and 5 MPs were called by the panel, consisting of senior party leaders - Mallikarjun Kharge, JP Agrawal and Harish Rawat, to listen to their grievances.

Congress Lok Sabha MP and Chief Whip, Ravneet Singh Bittu showed confidence that the party will unitedly contest the 2022 Assembly polls as all the issues will be resolved soon. "We have had a discussion on how to deliver our unfulfilled promises on the ground within 8 months that has been left for this Government. There is no infighting as you can see that all of us have gathered here in Delhi on just one call by the party high command," Bittu said.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat informed that the panel will meet former Presidents of Punjab Congress and ex-candidates of the party to prepare a strategy for the upcoming elections.

He also expressed confidence that Congress will again come to power in 2022, saying that these issues will be resolved soon after which a report will be submitted to the Congress President to take the final decisions.

According to the sources, Captain Amarinder Singh is likely to come to Delhi on Thursday, to meet the panel.

The crisis within Congress' Punjab unit began when Sidhu quit Captain Amarinder Singh's Cabinet in 2019 after being divested of local bodies portfolio. He had been hoping for rehabilitation for a very long time. During this, Sidhu has also been seen as being critical of Punjab CM on public platforms. He has been attacking Captain Amarinder Singh regarding the sacrilege case and even termed the CM as a "failed Home Minister".

On the other side, Captain Amarinder Singh had challenged Sidhu to contest polls against him from Patiala. The Punjab Chief Minister had also asked Sidhu to clearly spell out whether he is a member of the Congress party or not.