Rawat conveys rebels’ grievances to Punjab CM

CHANDIGARH: Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat, met chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday and spoke with him about the grievances that the rival camp led by state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu has aired and asked him to fulfil some of the major demands made by them, like the reduction of electricity rates.

Rawat, who is in Chandigarh to iron out the differences between the warring factions led by Singh and Sidhu, also raised the issue of pending election promises and the apprehensions among some dissenting ministers and legislators about alleged attempts to target them in their constituencies by those close to the CM. “I told him about their (disgruntled ministers and MLAs’) grievances. It is his duty to address these,” Rawat told reporters after the meeting.

The two leaders met at the CM’s Siswan farmhouse, with Singh summoning top officials, including the advocate general and the director general of police, to brief Rawat on the Bargari sacrilege (the 2015 desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book) and police firing cases, power purchase agreements (PPA), arrest of “big fish” in the drug rackets, cancellation of the three controversial farm laws passed by the Union government, and other pending election promises.

These promises are part of an 18-point to-do list prepared by the party’s central leadership based on feedback received from state leaders and handed down to the CM for implementation ahead of next year’s assembly elections.