There is a struggle in Punjab Congress these days. For its solution, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has appeared before a three-member committee in Delhi today (Friday, June 4). The rebel leaders and other MLAs, MPs and former state presidents have already met the committee.The committee, headed by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, has taken the opinion of over 100 leaders from Punjab in the last four days. Most of them are MLAs. Apart from Kharge, Congress general secretary and Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat and senior Delhi Pradesh Congress leader JP Agarwal are included in this committee. The committee will submit its report to the Congress high command.
What is the controversy in Punjab Congress?
More than half of the party’s MLAs have taken a rebellious stand against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The most vocal of these is former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. He has been an attacker on the Chief Minister through social media for the last few weeks. Sidhu is attacking Amarinder Singh, accusing the government of not implementing the government’s stand on the sacrilege of 2015 and the 2017 election announcements.He has accused the CM of working for the Badal family as well. The party high command is believed to be soft on Sidhu. That is why Sidhu remains an attacker on the CM.
Why Sidhu attacking CM?
Sidhu has been angry with the Captain for more than a year now. Former cricketer Sidhu was held responsible for the party’s poor performance in the state’s urban areas in the 2019 parliamentary elections and was denied key portfolios in the state government. In protest, Sidhu resigned from the cabinet of Captain.
Last month, Sidhu took to social media to criticize the chief minister for failing to oversee the sacrilege case. His campaign was supported by many within the party and expressed their displeasure against the Captain. On this bet of Sidhu, half a dozen ministers of Captain turned against Sidhu and started opening vigilance files against his supporters.
state president’s chair is the root of the dispute
Sunil Jakhar is currently the President of Punjab Congress, but there is a discussion that the party leadership wants to capture Navjot Singh Sidhu before the Legislative Assembly elections, but Amarinder Singh is opposing it. They argue that someone from the Dalit class or Hindu community should sit on this post because the CM is already posted from the Sikh community.
There is also talk of making Sidhu as Deputy Chief Minister before the Vidhan Sabha elections. So that the party can get the benefit of his popularity in the elections. But Amarinder Singh has implicated the screw here as well. They argue that a Dalit face should be placed on this post too so that its benefits can be availed in the elections.
Who with Sidhu?
Sidhu had recently held a meeting at a secret place with Congress leaders who opened a front against Amarinder Singh in Panchkula. It is believed that in this, there was a discussion not only on the formation of SIT on the sacrilege case of 2015 and on the activities of the Chief Minister, but also to intensify the fight against him. In this meeting, MLA from Jalandhar Pargat Singh who was a friend of Sidhu also attended.
Apart from these, State Jail Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who had offered to resign from the cabinet in view of the High Court’s decision in the sacrilege case, was also part of the meeting. Others who met Sidhu included Faridkot MLA Kushaldeep Singh Kikki Dhillon, Shri Hargobindpur MLA Balwinder Singh Ladi, Gurdaspur MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra and Qadian MLA Fatehjung Singh Bajwa. It is believed that out of the 77 MLAs of the party, 47 MLAs are with Sidhu.
