MY STAND ON CAPT STILL SAME: SIDHU TO KHARGE PANEL
The committee will meet more leaders, including remaining MLAS, MPS and former state unit presidents, today
Punjab legislators Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pargat Singh, who have been railing against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh over various issues, continued to do so before the three-member committee formed by the Congress to resolve the internal fight in the party ahead of next year’s polls.
After the meeting with the committee headed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Tuesday , Sidhu said: “My stand was the same, is the same and will be the same .... The truth may be punished but it cannot be defeated. We have to make the truth victorious and defeat antipunjab forces.”
Sidhu has consistently accused Amarinder of shielding the Badal family in the sacrilege and police firing cases and blamed him for the botched-up probe in the Kotkapura case.
CHANDIGARH: Punjab MLAS Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pargat Singh, who have been railing against chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh over various issues, continued to do so before the three-member committee formed by the Congress to resolve the internal fight in the party ahead of next year’s polls.
Sidhu, who has consistently accused Amarinder Singh of shielding the Badal family in the sacrilege and police firing cases and blamed him for the botched-up probe in the Kotkapura case, met the committee headed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for at least one-and-halfhours in New Delhi on Tuesday. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and former MP Jai Prakash Agarwal are the other members of the committee.
After the meeting, Sidhu said he was there at the high command’s invitation . “My stand was the same, is the same and will be the same that the democratic power of people that goes to the government in the form of taxes should go back to the people...each citizen must be made shareholder in progress. The truth may be punished but it cannot be defeated. We have to make the truth victorious and defeat anti-punjab forces,” the cricketer-turned-politician told reporters.
Between June and October 2015, three incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib took place in Faridkot district, leading to huge resentment and protests in the state. On October 14, 2015, two protesters were killed in police firing in Behbal Kalan. The same day, police also opened fire on protesters in Kotkapura. Amarinder had promised strict action against those responsible for sacrilege and police firing. On April 9 this year, the Punjab and Haryana high court quashed the investigation carried out by the state police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Kotkapura police firing case. The legal setback has fired up the chief minister’s detractors. The state government has constituted a new SIT in accordance with the court order
Though the Amritsar East MLA made a brief statement after the meeting he did not take any questions from the media. Later, Pargat Singh, who is considered close to Sidhu, is learnt to have raised questions over the chief minister’s working style, his failure to deliver on key poll promises and the public perception about Captain and the Badals being close.
During his 25-minute one-onone meeting, the Jalandhar Cantonment MLA also handed over to the committee members copies of a letter that he wrote to the CM around 18 months ago, expressing displeasure over the state government’s performance.
In his letter (first reported by Hindustan Times on February 17, 2020), Pargat Singh raised questions over the alleged cover-up of corruption cases, the drug menace, revenue leakages and the delay in dealing with those involved in the sacrilege case. “Though there has been no issue regarding the flow to funds for development works in assembly constituencies, there are several key promises that are still to be kept. If these relate to the CM’S departments, then who is responsible?,” the former India hockey captain said after the meeting.
Sidhu and Pargat Singh were among 30 leaders, including Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dr Amar Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Navtej Singh Cheema and Satkar Kaur, who met the committee constituted by the Congress president to resolve factionalism in the state Congress. In addition, heads of frontal organizations such as Mahila Congress and Punjab Youth Congress also met them.
The duo’s criticism is unlikely to help . “We need to go into the poll mode immediately and avoid such squabbles. There is no doubt that there is resentment with regard to the sacrilege case, inaction against the Badals and lack of implementation of promises made to Dalits. Once these are addressed, everything will okay. The meetings are not about Sidhu,” one Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. Though there is talk that the peace formula could include appointment of two deputy chief ministers, several MLAS and MPS who have met the panel over the past two days said this is news to them. The panel will meet more leaders, including the remaining MLAS, MPS and former state unit presidents, on Wednesday.