Punjab Congress MPs to meet in Delhi today, Sidhu's 'elevation' top agenda

Sources say the meeting will discuss the move to appoint Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress chief. Many MPs from the state are opposing the move of the party high command.

Hyderabad: Punjab Congress Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs will meet at the residence of Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa in Delhi this afternoon. Sources say the meeting will discuss the move to appoint Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress chief. Many MPs from the state are opposing the move of the party high command to elevate Sidhu as PPCC chief. They will seek an appointment to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sources said.

Amid the hectic political developments in the state over the probable elevation of Sidhu as chief of the party's state unit, Bajwa, along with Punjab Speaker Rana KP Singh and state Cabinet Minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi met Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh at his residence on Saturday. After the meeting, Amarinder Singh said that he will accept any decision taken by the Congress President. However, the chief minister is learned to have conveyed to Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat that he won't meet Sidhu until he apologises for his 'derogatory' tweets. It is said that Rawat informed the Chief Minister that there would be three to four working presidents of his choice along with Sidhu.

Read: Captain softens terms, agrees to accept 'any decision' by party top brass

According to sources, the meeting will also discuss the ongoing farmers' protest and devise a strategy over the issue ahead of the Parliament monsoon session which is scheduled to begin on Monday. House proceedings were repeatedly adjourned amid uproar by Opposition over farmers' issues during the budget session of Parliament in February-March.

A Congress delegation had met President Ram Nath Kovind in December 2020 and submitted around two crore signatures to him against the new farm laws. The delegation had sought his intervention for "annulling the three black laws". Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against three farm laws of the Centre at the Delhi borders since November 26 last year. Farmer leaders and the Centre held several rounds of talks but yielded no results. The farmer unions have announced that around 200 farmers will hold peaceful protests outside parliament every day during the monsoon session.

Read: Won't meet Sidhu until he apologises for 'derogatory' tweets: Amarinder