Capt digs in heels at meet over infighting
Appears before Kharge panel, defends his style of functioning
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh met the three-member committee headed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for his much-awaited one-on-one meeting on Friday, digging his heels in on questions raised by his detractors about his performance and style of functioning, according to people familiar with the matter.
The chief minister had a nearly three-hour long meeting with the panel on the last day of the exercise in Delhi that saw nearly 150 party leaders, including present and ex-state unit presidents, ministers, MPS and other leaders voice their suggestions and grievances. He shared his government’s achievements, implementation of 85% poll commitments, his roadmap for meeting unfulfilled promises and report card of his ministers.
The committee, which has All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and former Delhi MP Jai Prakash Agarwal as members, asked the chief minister about unfulfilled poll promises, his lack of accessibility and “over dependence” on the bureaucracy, and he responded to each point raised by party leaders. The chief minister also carried dossiers on dubious land deals and direct or indirect business interests of some party MLAS and other leaders in mining and liquor sectors, according to sources.
The chief minister was to meet the panel at 11 am but reached 15, Gurdwara Rakabganj Road a few minutes before time and Rawat and Agarwal arrived after him. After the meeting, Amarinder said the meeting was a routine introspection for the elections that are six months away.
“These are inner-party discussions and I do not propose to share them with you,” he told reporters.
However, Rawat, who was more forthcoming, said the chief minister was asked about the challenges and problems faced by party leaders and his (CM’S) roadmap to deal with them before the polls. He said the committee also took up the sacrilege issue that was raised by several party leaders. “We can understand the sensitivity of their sentiments, and the CM understands it better than us. He (Capt) spoke about the administrative and legal steps being taken. I am hopeful that in the next days, results will be seen,” he said.
On leadership change, the Punjab affairs in-charge also said no one talked about during the discussions with an alternative, adding that only the Congress president was authorised to speak on this.
Though he refused to comment, there are indications that the party may appoint more than one deputy chief ministers, bringing former minister Sidhu back into the state cabinet and appoint a new state unit chief as part of the peace formula. Before they publicly hit out at each other, Amarinder was open to re-inducting Sidhu (as a minister), who had quit the state cabinet in 2019, but was opposed to having him as the state unit president, a post that the cricketer-turned-politician was eyeing.
Agarwal said the panel will submit its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a day or two. The two-time CM is learnt to be piqued with the central leadership for not putting a stop to relentless attacks by his detractors, particularly Sidhu.