Amid Punjab crisis, G-23 targets Cong functioning
CHANDIGARH: The crisis in the faction-ridden Punjab unit of the Congress deepened on Wednesday with veteran leader Kapil Sibal expressing resentment over the functioning of the party, a day after state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned expressing dissatisfaction with allocation of portfolios.
Soon after Sibal addressed the media over the internal turmoil in the party, another veteran leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, reportedly asking her to convene an urgent meeting of the Congress Working Committee.
Both leaders were among the disgruntled leaders, dubbed G-23 leaders, who sought an overhaul of the party’s functioning last year.
Addressing the media Wednesday, Sibal said it was ironic that the people considered close to the party high command have deserted them. “Democracy can not be worked by 20 men sitting at the centre,” he said.
“I believe that one of my senior colleagues has [perhaps written or is about to write to Congress president to immediately convene a CWC so that a dialogue can take place as to why we are in this state,” Sibal said, referring to Azad’s letter.
The party has no president, he said. “We know (who takes the decisions) and yet we don’t know,” Sibal said.
Sibal said that G-23 leaders will raise issues that need to be addressed. “It is very clear. We are G-23 not Ji Huzoor 23. We will keep talking. We will continue to reiterate our demands,” Sibal said.
Their comments follow a prolonged power tussle between former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder resigned from the post earlier this month, after which Charanjit Singh Channi was chosen for the post. Channi’s new cabinet took oath on Sunday, after days of hectic discussions within the party and several leaders voicing dissent over the selection.
Sidhu, who was recently appointed Punjab Congress Committee chief despite Amarinder’s opposition, resigned on Tuesday.
“I don’t want to talk about Punjab but a border state where this is happening to Congress party means what? It is an advantage to ISI and Pakistan. We know the history of Punjab and the rise of extremism there... we know how forces across the border exploit the situation to create an atmosphere of uncertainty. It is these forces that are the biggest threat to the nation. Congress should make sure that they remain united. If somebody has an issue, it has to be discussed,” Sibal said.
“I’m speaking to you (media) on behalf of those Congressmen who wrote the letter in Aug last year and are waiting for the actions to be taken by our leadership in respect of the election of the office of the president, to CWC and central election committee,” Sibal said.
Earlier in the day, Channi reached out to Sidhu, offering to resolve the issues through talks.
The party is supreme and the government follows the party’s ideology, he told reporters after speaking to Sidhu.
“I have spoken to Sidhu sahab over the telephone today. Party is supreme and the government accepts the party’s ideology and follows that. (I told him that) you should come, sit and talk,” Channi said.
“The (state) president is the
head of the party. The head has to sit among the family,” he said, adding that Sidhu had agreed to meet.
Sidhu, who had abruptly put in his papers plunging the Congress into a fresh crisis, on Wednesday broke his silence, questioning the appointments of the director-general of police, state’s advocate general and “tainted” leaders.
Channi, however, defended the appointments, saying he had acted on the basis of feedback from the party members.
“I have no objection or any ego in anything,” he said, indicating that he was ready to review the decisions.
Asked what was Sidhu’s response to his offer to talk it out, Channi said that Sidhu told him that he would give the time for the meeting.
“We will sit with him and talk,” he said. “I will never deviate from the issues of the people of Punjab.”
“Whatever feedback we got from colleagues and others and whosoever can be appointed, we appointed. But the decisions will be taken according to the will of the people of Punjab,” Channi said, hours after Sidhu questioned the appointments of the director general of police, advocate general and “tainted” leaders in the cabinet.
He said he was ready to make “any sacrifice” but would always stand by his principles.
Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said his objective had always been to improve the lives of people and “to make a difference”.
“My dear Punjabis, my 17 years of political journey has been for a purpose – to improve the lives of the people of Punjab, to make a difference and to take a stand on politics of issues. This has been my ‘dharma’ and my duty.
“Till today, I have no personal grudge against anyone, nor have I fought personal battles,” Sidhu said in an over four-minute video clip shared on his Twitter handle.
“My fight has been on issues and a pro-Punjab agenda, for which I have stood for a long time,” he said.
“My father once told me that
wherever there is any confusion, always walk on the path of truth with moral authority and without compromising on moral values,” Sidhu added.
In a veiled reference to senior IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who has been given the additional charge of the director general of Punjab Police, Sidhu said, “Today, I see there is a compromise on those issues.” In an apparent reference to the 2015 desecration of Guru Granth Sahib incidents in Faridkot, he said his first priority was to fight for justice the people have been eagerly waiting for.
“I see those who had given clean chits to the Badals six years ago ... have been given the responsibility of delivering justice,” he added.
Sahota was the head of a special investigation team formed in 2015 by the then Akali government to probe the sacrilege incidents.
Sidhu also apparently questioned the appointment of APS Deol as the state’s new advocate general.
“My soul jitters when I see those who secured blanket bails, they are advocate general. What is the agenda here,” he asked.
Deol is a senior advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and has been a counsel for former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini. He had been representing the ex-top cop in various cases against him.
“Those who used to talk about issues, where are those issues now? Where are the means? Will we reach our destination with these means,” Sidhu apparently asked the current state leadership.
A system which included “tainted” leaders and officials is being brought back after being dismantled, he said, adding, “I oppose it.”
He was obliquely referring to the induction of Rana Gurjit Singh as a minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Cabinet.
Singh was included in the ministry despite protests by some party leaders over his past. He had to resign from the Amarinder Singh ministry over allegations of impropriety in the auction of sand-mining contracts.