Punjab Congress divided between Captain and Sidhu

According to sources, the rift between Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu is constantly widening as Singh is unhappy about Sidhu taking over as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee head and he will not meet him until Sidhu publicly apologizes for his tweets against the state government.

Chandigarh: Ever since Navjot Singh Sidhu has been appointed as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, the rift between Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Sidhu is constantly increasing. On Monday, Sidhu called a meeting at the residence of Cabinet Minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa which was attended by nearly 35 MLAs and ministers. Former state president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Sunil Jakhar, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhwinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana and Charanjit Singh Channi also marked the attendance.

Notably, Sidhu met the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Rana KP Singh and also sought the blessings of former Punjab CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal by touching his feet. During this course, Sidhu was just 100 meters away from Punjab incumbent Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who was at his office. Following this, MLA Raja Warring also informed the media that time has been sought to meet the Chief Minister but they are yet to get an appointment.

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Sources have told ETV Bharat that Captain Amarinder Singh is scheduled to meet the close ministers, MLAs and workers of his faction on Wednesday but Raveen Thukral, Media Advisor to the Punjab CM has denied any such meeting. Sources said that Singh is unhappy about Sidhu taking over as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee head and he will not meet him until Sidhu publicly apologizes for his tweets against the state government.

Navjot Singh Sidhu with his supporters

"Cabinet Ministers Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Brahm Mohindra, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Gurpreet Kangar along with Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Lal Singh and his son Rajendra Singh, MLA Fateh Singh Bajwa, Navtej Cheema, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Harminder Singh Gill, Sukhpal Singh Bhullar, Kuldeep Ved, Dr Rajkumar Verka, Sushil Rinku, Hardayal Kamboj, Madan Lal Jalalpur and Nirmal Singh, were seen at the residence of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday evening," said sources.

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Even Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, who earlier challenged Sidhu that he can beat him from the Patiala Assembly constituency under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh, was seen saying that the decision taken by the high command will be acceptable to him. Sources also stated that Captain will be making efforts to get 65 out of 80 MLAs on his side while Sidhu's visit to Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. "Singh is preparing for a big move by pressurising Congress members as he did against Pratap Singh Bajwa," sources claimed.

The list of Congress members who are on Sidhu's side:

Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhwinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, Razia Sultana, Charanjit Singh Channi, Raja Warring, Kulbir Jira, Kuljit Nagra, Gurkeerat Kotli, Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Tarsem DC, Satkar Ko, Kuldeep Ved, Nirmal Singh, Davinder Gubaya, Sunil Dutti, Darshan Brar, Madan Jalalpur, Surjit Dhiman, Joginder Singh, Sukhjit Singh Kaka Logh, Barinder Meet Singh, Amrik Singh Dhillon, Dr Dharamveer Agnihotri, Pargat Singh, Sunil Jakhar, Khushbaz Jatana, and Nirmal Singh Manasahiya.

The list of Congress members who are on Captain's side:

Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Brahm Mohindra, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Gurpreet Kangar, Dr Rajkumar Verka, Sushil Rinku, Navtej Cheema, Harminder Singh Gill, Fatehjung Singh Bajwa, Hardayal Kamboj and Sukhpal Singh Bhullar.

Captain Amarinder Singh with his faction

While many Congress leaders have kept a distance from this tussle, some MLAs are neutral to both camps. However, MLA Raja Bring and Bindani Chinchpada believe that both the opponents will be seen in one frame. "Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will soon meet Navjot Singh Sidhu to end all the speculations in media as Captain is a strong leader with a big heart," they said. Virendra Mithpara said that Captain knows the best how to deal with a guest who has been invited to the home.

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