New Delhi: The recently constituted three-member committee by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to resolve the infighting between the factions of the party's Punjab unit, held its first meeting, on Saturday, to discuss the matter and to put out a united front ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. The committee members will soon meet the party MLAs and Punjab Congress President Sunil Jhakhar to listen to their grievances.
The committee, consisting of Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat and senior Congress leader JP Aggarwal, met at Congress War Room at 15 Guru Rakabganj Road in Delhi.
During the meeting, it was decided that the committee will complete this consultation process by the first week of June.
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The committee will also speak to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. The PCC President and Punjab Congress MLAs will be called to Delhi for a meeting, but the schedule for interaction is yet to be decided.
Speaking to the media, Harish Rawat said, "This is not a crisis but a clash among the family members. The party has shown its belief that we will together prepare a roadmap for the 2022 Assembly elections. The row emerged within the party members is a part of this exercise which we would try to sort out as soon as possible."
He further added, "We will also consult to the PCC President, MLAs, MPs and would speak to Captain and Sidhu if needed. The entire leadership which would affect the upcoming elections, we would try to consult all of them."
Rawat said if required, the Committee would also speak to the Congress candidates who had lost previous elections. "But currently, we have decided first to speak to PCC President and our MLAs. We are yet to decide how we are going to call them here to speak to them regarding this matter," he stated.
When asked about the groups formed within the Punjab unit, the Punjab Congress in-charge replied, " I believe when the Congress President has formed a committee to look into this matter, our Ministers and MLAs would not take out their grievances in open space and would rather speak to this committee. We will take cognizance of each one of their views and will make sure that a solution would be found out of it."
Read:| Political turmoil deepens in Punjab as ministers seek action against Sidhu
When asked about Sidhu's tweet against Captain, Harish Rawat tried to cover up his stand by saying that he is criticizing the Central government on the management of Covid-19 and farmers agitation.
"They would not speak anything which will go against the party. Whatever has been said by Captain or Sidhu is like a fight among two brothers," Rawat said.
However, he agreed that differences among the party members during the Covid crisis are incorrect, saying, "Indeed it is not good to have a clash within the ruling party members at a time when the entire country is facing a health crisis. People are also expecting that we would fight against this pandemic together and will also raise the voice of farmers."
Meanwhile, JP Aggarwal showed confidence that the committee would be able to resolve this issue. "Every problem has a solution. This is what the democracy is all about, we will sit, consult those people and will make decisions."
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. Recently, Sidhu also criticised Captain for having failed to prove the sacrilege case.
Read:| Political turmoil deepens in Punjab as ministers seek action against Sidhu
