Amarinder unquestioned leader of Punjab: Rawat
Punjab Cong affairs in-charge adds Sidhu has to be involved in party activities
JALANDHAR: Punjab Congress affairs in-charge Harish Rawat said on Friday that chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh remained the unquestioned leader of the state. “Captain Amarinder Singh is already in command in Punjab and no one has objected to it,” Rawat, an All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, told HT, when questioned on the face of the Congress party for Punjab assembly polls, due next year.
Rawat was in town to attend
a function organised by a media house to help families hit by terrorism. Later, he visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan of the Ravidassia community.
On Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been consigned to the margins of state politics due to his differences with Amarinder, Rawat said the state unit of the party must involve him in its activities. Rawat, a former Uttarakhand CM, added, “The process of resolution of differences (between Sidhu and the CM) has started. Now, it is up to both of them on when they complete the process.”
He added, “If you keep such a capable person (Sidhu) in the party without any responsibility (whether in the government or the party) then what will people ask us. Responsibility will be given to Sidhu, but with every responsibility, there is some human issue. We have to see how these human issues are resolved.” When queried on the allegation that the state police were inclined to the BJP, Rawat added such impressions must not be believed by the public.
He added that the setting up a new organisational structure of the party in Punjab had been delayed as he does not want to divert attention from farmers’ agitation on the borders of Delhi. “For the new set-up, we have to hold talks with workers. This will divert their attention,” added Rawat.
On grievances of local Congress leaders with the state bureaucracy, he added Punjab MLAs had more power than MLAs in other states as the CM had delegated more powers, in the interest of governance. “There were delays in action in important cases like sacrilege or drugs. The government’s actions have also remained under judicial scrutiny. The government works at the pace of a cricket test match and not a T20,” he added.
On recent developments, he said, “The Centre’s use of the NIA to silence farmers is condemnable. It must realise that Punjab is a border state.”