Four ministers, two dozen MLAs revolt against Amarinder
Disgruntled leaders authorise a 5-member delegation to meet AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and urge her to replace the CM
CHANDIGARH : The Congress government in Punjab plunged into a fresh crisis as four cabinet ministers and nearly two dozen legislators declared open rebellion against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the state, expressing total “lack of faith” in him.
The disgruntled leaders, including cabinet ministers Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhbinder Sarkaria and state unit general secretary (organisation) Pargat Singh, who met at Bajwa’s official residence here, decided to urge the party high command to replace the chief minister. “We do not have any faith in the chief minister as he has not fulfilled promises made before the 2017 assembly elections,” three of the ministers said after the meeting.
The unfulfilled promises such as delay in justice in sacrilege and police firing cases, arrest of the big fish in drug rackets and cancellation of power purchase agreements listed by them are part of the 18-point agenda handed by the central leadership to the chief minister two months ago for implementation. Randhawa told reporters that they had no confidence left in him (Amarinder), but changing the chief minister was the prerogative of the party high command.
Bajwa, who along with Randhawa was among the ministers considered close to Amarinder until a few months ago, was more scathing in his criticism and accused the chief minister of “colluding” with Akalis.
“The high command needs to take drastic steps. If there is a need to change the chief minister, then it should be done,” he said. Asked if this was an attempt to oust the chief minister, Bajwa said it was not an attempt but the demand of the people.
The disgruntled leaders authorised a five-member delegation, including four ministers and Pargat, who were with Navjot Singh Sidhu in his tussle with Amarinder, to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and apprise her of the sentiment prevailing in the party at the earliest.
The ministers immediately spoke to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and will travel to Dehradun to meet him before heading to the national capital. Rawat said the ministers and MLAs had sought time and would meet him on Wednesday. “I will hear them and inform the high command about their issues. However, no one has talked to me about any demand for leadership change in the state,” he said. On the latest flare-up, the Punjab affairs in-charge said that Sidhu and the chief minister should see why such a situation had arisen. “This should not have happened. I have already said certain things that should not happen are being done in different constituencies.
There should not be a situation where if someone disagrees with us, action is taken against him with revenue as the motive. If such things are happening, it should be stopped. Only Capt can do that,” he said.
Though it was claimed by some of those present that 32 legislators attended the meeting, the ministers refused to give their number and names. “We will tell this to the high command. Several MLAs are scared and not willing to come out in the open at this stage,” one of the CM’s detractors said. The Congress has 80 MLAs in the 117strong state assembly.
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was not present at the meeting, later met some of these ministers and MLAs at the party’s state headquarters here.
“Got a call from Tripat Bajwa ji asking for an emergency…Met him along with other colleagues at the PPCC office. Will appraise the high command of the situation (sic),” he tweeted after meeting them.
Sidhu has also been feeling the heat over his two advisers Malwinder Singh Mali and Dr Pyare Lal Garg whose controversial remarks on sensitive issues such as Kashmir and Pakistan have drawn flak from within and outside the ruling party. Besides Amarinder, several other party leaders, including five cabinet ministers from the Capt camp, have lashed out at the two advisers, asking the state Congress chief to rein them in.
Addressing the media after the meeting at Bajwa’s house, Channi said that a lot of promises had been fulfilled, but some promises (the implementation of) that may lead to friction with the opposition were unfulfilled. “The issues are not getting resolved the way the Congress wants, and we were promised. We no longer believe that these issues will be resolved. Therefore, we are seeking time from the party high command for a meeting,” said Channi, flanked by Randhawa, Bajwa and Pargat.
Channi said nothing happened after the questioning of (former chief minister) Parkash Singh Badal and (SAD president) Sukhbhir Badal by the SIT in the Kotkapura police firing incident. The flare-up between Sidhu and Amarinder came four days after their twin decisions to form a 10-member “strategic policy group” that included the two of them and make the ministers available at the party office by rotation were seen in the Congress circles as the first sign of thaw in their relations.