Ahead of CWC meet, Sidhu to meet party leadership in Delhi
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Oct, 2021 11:14 AM
New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) After resigning from the state President of Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu will have his first official meeting with the Congress central leadership on Thursday.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu, President, Punjab Congress, will be meeting me and (K.C.) Venugopal ji for discussion on certain organisational matters pertaining to Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee at Venugopal ji's office on October 14 at 6 p.m.," AICC General Secretary and the party's Punjab in-charge, Harish Rawat, said in a tweet.
After Sidhu had quit over differences with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the central leadership has called him to listen to his grievances.
It's likely that Sidhu will put forth the list of demands in the Punjab government as he is upset with the appointments in the government. He has resigned from the post of state president, but it has not been accepted yet by Sonia Gandhi. The meeting gains significance as it comes ahead of the CWC meeting.
The Congress is likely to convey Sidhu to withdraw his resignation and work in tandem with the Chief Minister.
The Congress wants to put its house in order ahead of polls and despite removal of Amarinder Singh there has been no resolution of the issues.
Sidhu is Unhappy over the first Cabinet expansion, allocation of portfolios and appointments on crucial posts, including the Advocate General and the DGP, by the Chief Minister. The Congress leadership has given a go ahead to a coordination committee after the Chief Minister tried to placate Sidhu and said that the decision will be taken collectively.
Navjot Singh Sidhu after his resignation has said he will always stand by party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
In a tweet Sidhu said, "Will uphold principles of Gandhi Ji & Shastri Ji...
"Post or No Post, will stand by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi! Let all negative forces try to defeat me, but with every ounce of positive energy will make Punjab win, Punjabiyat (Universal Brotherhood) win & every Punjabi win!!"
Navjot Singh Sidhu was on forefront in Lakhimpur Kheri where he proceeded on indefinite fast in support of his demand for action against Union Minister of state for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra. He also led a large convoy to support Priyanka Gandhi in her agitation.
The area has been cordoned off and additional forces have reached the spot. Police said the terrorists involved in firing have been trapped and an operation has been started by the police and security forces.
Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Anurag Thakur, Bhupender Yadav, V. Muraleedharan and Arjun Ram Meghwal held a joint press conference at the Shastri Bhavan here on Thursday and condemned the 'unruly' and 'violent' behaviour of the opposition parties led by the Congress.
Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states as well as where the party is in power as part of an alliance, including Tamil Nadu's M.K. Stalin (DMK), Maharashtra's Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM) will also be invited.
Besides, the All India Congress Committee, the Maharashtra and Mumbai verified Congress handles, that of Congress Legislative Party leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Mumbai Congress President Bhai Jagtap, state party social media head Abhijeet Sapkal, and around 500 other leaders at various level have been blocked on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the wreckage of the state roadways bus that fell into a 500 metre deep gorge following the massive landslide was recovered this morning, rescuers said.
Senior Home Ministry officials on Thursday reviewed the status of the investigations in the two rape cases in Delhi with officials of the Delhi Police. The review was done on the instructions of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the officials said.
