'Had fruitful discussion': CM Amarinder meets MLAs after Sidhu's meet with Rahul, Priyanka

At a time when the internal tussle in the Punjab unit of the Congress party is still looking for a logical conclusion, Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday called for a meeting with the Members of the Legislature. Often accused of being detached from the grassroots of the state, this meeting of the Chief Minister is being seen as an attempt to bridge the gap that most evidently exists between him and the Punjab leaders before 2022. What is clear as of now is that he is the CM face of the party for the assembly elections. 

Taking to his official Twitter handle, he shared a few pictures from the meeting, and wrote, "Had a fruitful discussion with senior Congress colleagues from urban areas of Punjab. We have taken their feedback to strengthen the party at the grassroots level."

As per reports, in the meeting, Captain Amarinder Singh made it clear that he can accept Navjot Singh Sidhu as a minister but not as the Congress state president. The statement comes a day after Sidhu had a meeting with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Rahul Gandhi. 

The meeting of Sidhu with the brother-sister duo had come not even a week after the Congress top brass made evident its 'unhappiness' with Sidhu's acts. The cause of unhappiness predicted as the Amritsar MLA's continuous use of unparliamentary language, the party leaders issued 'last warning' to him, and directed him to either 'fall in or out of the line'.

Earlier on June 11, the three-member committee formed by Sonia Gandhi comprising Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge, ex-Delhi MP JP Agarwal, and AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab Harish Rawat had submitted its report. Constituted on May 28 in the wake of the increasing rift between the Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Amarinder Singh factions, the panel met all stakeholders to ascertain their views, and submitted the report, and even briefed Rahul Gandhi. Leaders like Punjab Congress president Sunil Jhakhar, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Manish Tewari later met Rahul Gandhi and apprised him of the situation after infighting escalated in the state.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has demanded an end to the tussle and has asked for a 'final decision' to be taken with respect to Sidhu's position in the Congress party while Sidhu has time and again asserted that he is not interested in any cabinet position, let alone that of Deputy Chief Minister. 

The rift between Sidhu and Amarinder Singh widens

While Navjot Singh Sidhu has continued to be an MLA after resigning from the Cabinet in July 2019, he maintained a distance from party activities. Moreover, he has been repeatedly attacking the state government and the Punjab CM over the purported delay injustice in the incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent police firing incident. Though Singh and Sidhu attempted to resolve their differences over tea on March 17, 2021, a positive outcome proved to be elusive.

The relationship took a turn for the worse after the Punjab & Haryana HC quashed the SIT probe into the firing cases on April 9. Breaking his silence on Sidhu's attacks, Singh on April 27 dared him to contest from Patiala in the 2022 polls and predicted that he will lose his deposit. Furthermore, he contended that Sidhu wanted to join some other party.  In another development, the ex-cricketer has dared Amarinder Singh to take action amid speculation that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau is investigating some allegations against him and his aides.