Amid the ongoing infighting within the Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday hosted a meeting over lunch with close to two dozen Congress leaders, including Ministers and MLAs – a move which is being seen as a show of strength.
Party sources said the meeting was primarily held with Hindu leaders, amid reports that many among them have been feeling marginalised in the party since it came to power in 2017. MLAs from urban constituencies were also present in the meeting. The attempt was to keep the flock together as the power tussle between former Cabinet Minister Navjot Sidhu and Capt. Amarinder is far from over. The luncheon meeting came a day after former party president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Navjot Singh Sidhu in New Delhi.
Ahead of the Assembly election in Punjab, which are due early next year, insiders maintain that there could be significant changes in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) as well as the Punjab Cabinet.
The AICC panel, including Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary (Punjab) Harish Rawat and J.P. Aggarwal, had a few days ago submitted its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi with suggestions to resolve infighting in the party’s State unit. The panel is learnt to have suggested that Mr. Sidhu needs to be suitably accommodated. The Chief Minister, however, it was learnt to have made it clear to the panel that PCC should not be headed by another Jat Sikh as the State government is already being headed by one.
PCC chief post
Member of Parliament Manish Tewari and State Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla were among those present in the luncheon meeting, the names of both these leaders have been doing rounds for the post of PCC president as both are seen as confidants of the Capt. Amarinder.
