Punjab infighting: Panel submits report to Sonia

A three-member AICC panel set up to end factionalism in the Punjab Congress submitted its report to party chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said.

The panel chaired by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and comprising AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and former MP JP Aggarwal has suggested accommodating all sections, castes and regions in the revamped party unit.

Though no major changes have been recommended at the top level, the people said the panel has said that Navjot Singh Sidhu should be “suitably accommodated” in the revamp. His name is doing the rounds for elevation as deputy chief minister of Punjab, the people said.

The decision will be taken by Gandhi.

On Wednesday, five party MPS eposed faith in the leadership of chief minister Amarinder Singh, saying people want him to continue as the CM. The MPS called upon the CM to discuss the poll strategy for the 2022 elections, a release said.

Recently, the Congress high command had set up a threemember panel to iron out differences in the state party unit and held meetings with its MLAS at Delhi.

The Lok Sabha MPS who reposed faith in the leadership of the chief minister were Preneet Kaur, Jasbir Singh Gill, Santokh Singh Choudhary, Dr Amar Singh and Mohammad Sadiq. They said people of Punjab only want Amarinder Singh as their chief minister, the release said.

‘My stand on CM still same’: Sidhu to panel

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh met the panel last week and the panel asked the chief minister about unfulfilled poll promises, his lack of accessibility and “over dependence” on the bureaucracy, according to a report by HT. The panel also met 150 party leaders, including present and ex-state unit presidents, ministers, MPS and other leaders who voiced their suggestions and grievances. The panel also spoke to Amarinder Singh about the Bargari sacrilege case and Kotkapura firing probe which were earlier raised by several party leaders, including Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu.

“My stand remains unchanged, I feel that the democratic power of people which goes to the government in the form of taxes should go back to the people. Every citizen must be made a shareholder in the progress of the state. The truth can be punished but it cannot be defeated. We have to make the truth victorious against the anti-punjab forces,” Sidhu said after meeting the panel.

He was also joined by Pargat Singh, another MLA considered close to Sidhu, who raised questions over the chief minister’s ways of governance and also highlighted the public perception about Captain and the Badals being close