The resignation of PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu put the Congress yet again on the back foot as several of the senior leaders started questioning the party high command’s ad-hoc approach towards organisational and political issues.
Meanwhile, former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah fuelling speculations that he may join the BJP. Though they met for about 45 minutes, people close to Singh maintained that it was a courtesy call and they discussed issues such as farmers’ protests and drug menace in the State.
The high command and the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi expressed confidence that all issues will be resolved. The party said, AICC general secretary in-charge of the State Harish Rawat is monitoring the situation.
‘Veterans taking the lead’
According to party insiders, the “traditional Congressmen” of Punjab have taken over the control of the party by sidelining both Amarinder Singh and Sidhu.
Channi tried to placate Sidhu and said he does not have an ego and will reconsider the appointments he made if it is in the interest of the State. “I have spoken to Sidhu over the telephone today. The party is supreme and the government accepts the party’s ideology and follows that. (I told him that) you come, sit and talk. If Sidhu feels there is anything wrong, he can point it out,” he said.
In an attempt to tone down the differences, he indicated that the appointments of prosecutors he made can be reconsidered.
‘Stability within party’
Meanwhile, the dissenters, dubbed the G-23, within the Congress, have demanded the high command to immediately convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee. Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is learnt to have sent a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi that the CWC should meet to discuss the present situation..
Congress MP Kapil Sibal asked for an organisational poll to elect a full-time president for the party. He told reporters that the leadership should not create a volatile situation in a border State like Punjab.
Opposition slams Cong
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, citing a statement of Congress MP Manish Tewari, said Punjab’s stability is important for national security. “The entire episode has brought to fore the colossal failure of Rahul Gandhi,” Patra said.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is in Punjab, said there is political instability in the State. “A dirty fight for power is going on. People are not able to understand whom they should approach for their problems. They (the Congress) have reduced the government to a tamasha,” he added.