New Delhi: Following the first round of meeting on Monday between the three-membered panel, constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to resolve differences among its leaders in Punjab Congress and 25 MLAs, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is expected to attend the meeting on Tuesday at 11:30 am.
The panel constituted by the Congress president to resolve differences among its leaders in Punjab Congress held its first meeting with 25 MLAs at the party's 'war room' at 15, Gurdwara Rakabganj road in the national capital (GRG).
The panel, consisting of Congress' senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Harish Rawat, and JP Aggarwal, had summoned 25 MLAs and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Sunil Jakhar to Delhi. The meeting was held was called at 11 am at 15 GRG, Congress War Room.
The other legislators who met the senior leaders include Manpreet Singh Badal, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Rajkumar Verka, Tript Bajwa, Rana Sodhi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sunder Sham Arora, Charanjit Channi, Pawan Adia and Aruna Chowdhry among others.
After the meeting, Rawat told the media, "When there's a huge majority in a government, people also have high expectations from them. People have very high hopes from Captain Amarinder Singh... that is why they are raising questions about him. Today, we have spoken to 25 MLAs, tomorrow we have called 30 MLAs."
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On the issue of 'sacrilege' and Sidhu's accusation against the chief minister, Rawat said it is wrong to blame Captain Amarinder as the order was being given by the High Court. "However, some actions have also been taken against the accused," he said.
JP Aggarwal accepted that the leaders expressing their grievances publicly was denting the party's image.
Jakhar expressed confidence that the issue will be resolved very soon. He launched an attack on some of the leaders of his own party saying, "Few people are trying to find opportunities among the hardships, they shall also be exposed."
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Rahul Gandhi, too, spoke to some of the state legislators in this regard.
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 a re-induction for a long time. Meanwhile, he was seen as being critical of the Punjab chief minister.
Recently, the cricketer-turned-politician also criticised Captain Amarinder over the sacrilege case and called him a "failed home minister".
On the other hand, Captain Amarinder 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.
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