New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has raised the banner of revolt against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, met former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday evening soon after meeting party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The meeting lasted for an hour but Sidhu, who had tweeted his photo with Priyanka Gandhi, was tight-lipped about what transpired, and neither did the Congress make an official statement. Sources, however, that a solution is being worked on to defuse the tension between the two factions.
Ahead of the meeting with Sidhu, Rahul Gandhi had met Priyanka Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi.
The cricketer-turned-politician's meeting with Rahul Gandhi came a day after the former party chief had said that no meeting was scheduled between him and Sidhu.
On Tuesday afternoon, Rahul Gandhi stepped outside his house to talk to reporters but when he was asked about meeting Sidhu, he seemed to rule it out. "No meeting," he had said.
Last week, Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Manish Tewari had met Rahul Gandhi and apprised him of the situation after infighting escalated in the state unit.
Punjab has reported the second death due to coronavirus, officials said on Monday. He was in a close contact with the state's lone casualty Baldev Singh and both were 'granthis'.
The Centre on Thursday announced the first instalment of a fiscal relief package, worth Rs 170,000 crore, to protect the weaker sections of the society from the economic fallout of Covid-19.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here on Thursday announced immediate distribution of 10 lakh packets of dry ration to daily wagers and unorganised labourers to help them during the curfew because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Urging the police personnel to exercise maximum restraint in the difficult situation, the Chief Minister asked them to find more compassionate ways of handling curfew violations, especially in cases of individuals found moving out for essentials.
