Amarinder likely to meet Sonia Gandhi amid infighting in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Jul, 2021 11:05 AM
New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Amid escalating infighting in Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi and apprise his side of the story to the interim Congress President.
The proposed meeting comes in the backdrop of the suggestions made by the Congress high command to the Punjab government and changes in the state unit of the party, days after disgruntled Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met Rahul Gandhi.
After Sidhu met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi separately last week, there is a speculation that Priyanka Gandhi has suggested Sidhu's name as the Punjab Congress chief. However, Amarinder Singh and some of the other factions in the party are not accepting this formula.
Sources said that Punjab leaders may accept him as the working president, but not as a full-fledged state unit chief as the Chief Minister is keen on having a non-Sikh face as the state Congress President.
The Punjab in-charge for Congress, Harish Rawat, had said that it's a good sign that Rahul Gandhi has met the former-cricketer-turned politician, adding that the issue is likely to be resolved around next week.
Meanwhile, Amarinder Singh had called the MLAs supporting him for lunch in Chandigarh the day Sidhu left for Delhi and and is believed to have discussed the future strategy.
The move had reportedly upset the party high command, which viewed it as a show of strength, especially after the panel formed by the Congress to look into the Punjab issue said that there is no question of removing the Chief Minister.
After attending the recent all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, two former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti stood miles apart.
A delegation of Sikh leaders on Tuesday met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy over the recent incident of forcible religious conversion of two Sikh girls in the Kashmir valley and submitted a memorandum in this regard.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday favoured the need to start breeding crocodiles in the state's rivers, especially the Beas and the Sutlej, as they were found in abundance six decades ago.
Facing massive statewide agitation by farmers over power outages, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday issued directions to ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply and to purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent any supply disruption in the ongoing sowing season.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, Kamal Pant, told reporters that the police teams were forced to open fire after firing warning shots in the air as the accused persons resisted the search teams' efforts to nab them.
