The meeting between rebel Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in New Delhi, on Tuesday, was supposed to be a decisive step towards ending the ongoing power tussle within the party바카라s Punjab unit. However, the move of the Gandhi siblings to grant a long and exclusive audience to the voluble cricketer-turned-politician has pushed Congress further away from resolving its Punjab crisis.
On Wednesday, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh hosted over two dozen of his party leaders in Punjab for lunch at his official residence in Chandigarh. The gathering, comprising predominantly of Hindu leaders of the Punjab Congress, included several ministers, legislators, and party leaders who have been critical of Singh바카라s functioning and have also expressed their dissatisfaction, in private, over the party and its government ignoring the interests of the state바카라s Hindu minority.
The lunch meeting is being seen within Congress circles as a clever political manoeuvre by Singh to signal to the Gandhis that he enjoys the confidence of a majority of party MLAs and is willing to go the extra mile to win over those who have grievances with his functioning. Most importantly, the meeting is also being viewed as a show of strength by Singh amid rumours that in their bid to accommodate Sidhu바카라s political ambitions, the Gandhis wouldn바카라t mind undermining the authority of the 79-year-old CM just eight months before Punjab goes for assembly polls.
Though what exactly transpired in the meeting between Sidhu and the Gandhi siblings on Tuesday is not known yet, the Congress grapevine has been buzzing with speculation that Rahul and Priyanka have assured the former BJP leader who joined the Congress five years back of a 바카라larger and more influential role바카라 in Punjab. Sidhu, sources say, has been lobbying for his appointment as the state Congress chief ahead of the Assembly polls and demanding a greater say in the party바카라s poll planning.
Congress sources tell Outlook that Rahul was initially hesitant in meeting Sidhu, on Tuesday, but agreed to grant him an audience at Priyanka바카라s insistence. Sidhu, as per his tweet, had a 바카라long meeting바카라 with Priyanka on Tuesday morning. Rahul, say sources, was clear that he would meet Sidhu only if the Amritsar East MLA came with 바카라an open mind and without any pre-conditions바카라. Rahul agreed to meet Sidhu after being briefed by Priyanka about the former cricketer바카라s grievances against Singh. Sidhu바카라s meeting with Rahul and Priyanka went on for over an hour following which the rebel leader left the former Congress chief바카라s residence without saying anything to the posse of journalists gathered at the spot.
Sidhu and the Gandhis maintained a studied silence over what transpired at the meeting but rumours quickly began circulating that the disgruntled leader would be given a major responsibility in Punjab within the next few days. Back in Punjab, these rumours took a life of their own with several state Congress leaders whispering about the possibility of Sidhu바카라s appointment as the Punjab unit chief. Singh, as repeatedly reported by Outlook, has been adamant against Sidhu바카라s possible appointment as Punjab Congress chief.
Sources privy to the discussions that took place between Singh and his party colleagues during Wednesday바카라s lunch tell Outlook that there was a 바카라consensus among everyone present that the Congress high command must not name Sidhu as the state Congress chief under any circumstance.바카라 Singh and several other party leaders, including several rivals of the CM, have maintained all along that whenever in power in the state, the Congress has always had a Jat Sikh CM and a Hindu PCC chief and this tradition must not be broken. At the lunch meeting too, sources say, party leaders agreed with Singh that the post of PCC chief must go to a Hindu.
Singh, who has twice been summoned to Delhi over the past month to depose before a three-member committee constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for resolving the Punjab crisis, has already told the panel that appointing Sidhu as the PCC chief will not be acceptable to him and other local leaders of the party. Instead, Singh was willing to induct Sidhu back into his cabinet as a deputy CM, provided that the party also agreed to have a Hindu deputy CM sworn in. The three-member panel has also informed Sonia that Sidhu can also be made chairman of the party바카라s election campaign committee.
The Gandhis have not yet held an exclusive discussion with Singh over the Punjab crisis. The lack of a meeting between Singh and the high command is being cited by many as an affront to the CM by the Congress바카라s central leadership. However, Singh did not seek an appointment with the party high command as he was of the view that he would explain his position to the Gandhis after they have spoken to all other stakeholders. Sources say Singh may finally meet the Gandhis over the next few days to present his case.
With his luncheon meeting, Singh has already made it known that he is no pushover and the party high command can slight him only at the risk of putting the Congress in jeopardy when the state goes to polls early next year. The CM has also tried to mend his bridges with other rivals like Rahul-confidante and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, his brother Fatheganj Bajwa, ministers Brahm Mohindra and OP Soni, and former MLA Ashwani Sekhri. Some of these leaders have indicated to Outlook that though they have some complaints against the state government, they would rather work under Singh바카라s leadership than Sidhu바카라s.
Harish Rawat, the party바카라s general secretary in charge of Punjab, tells Outlook that the party 바카라is working towards a solution바카라 and that 바카라within the next 3 to 4 days, we will announce a formula that will be acceptable to everyone.바카라
