Amarinder, Sidhu for panel on party, govt coordination

Chandigarh, Aug. 20: Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member strategic policy group to ensure better coordination between the party and the state government and expedite implementation of various government programmes.

The development is seen as a sign of thaw between Capt. Singh and Mr Sidhu, amid the ongoing tussle between the two of them.

In another development, the chief minister has deputed his ministers to sit at Congress Bhavan for interacting with the party cadre and public.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had earlier advised that the Punjab government and the state unit of the party must work together.

To be headed by the chief minister, the group will have local government minister Brahm Mohindra, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and social security minister Aruna Chaudhary as members along with Mr Sidhu.

The four state Congress working presidents, Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, and Pargat Singh will also be members.

The decision was taken on Friday when Mr Sidhu, along with Nagra and Pargat, called on the CM to discuss Punjab related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination, a statement here said.

The group will hold weekly meetings in consultation with other ministers and experts as may be required. It will discuss and review the progress of various state government initiatives already under implementation, it said.