Sidhu meets Cong chief amid buzz of revamp in Punjab
CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday amid rising tensions in the party over the cricketer-turned-politician’s factional fight with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
The meeting at Gandhi’s Delhi residence was also attended by party leader Rahul Gandhi. It came after days of talk – with no official announcement – that Sidhu could be appointed the state unit chief overriding objections by Singh.
But there was no official word on the outcome of the hour-long meeting.
“I had come to submit my report on Punjab to the Congress chief. As soon as any decision is taken by the party president, I will share the details,” said Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat, who also attended the meeting. He refused to give any direct answer to a query about the state Congress chief’s appointment.
This was the first time Sidhu met Sonia Gandhi since the row erupted in the Punjab Congress in May. He previously met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on June 30.
Singh is bitterly opposed to Sidhu’s elevation as party chief and has publicly advocated for a Hindu face for the post. On
Friday, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari tweeted demographic details of the state, mentioning that Sikhs form 57.75% of the population and Hindus constitute 38.49%.
“Punjab is both progressive and secular, but balancing social interest groups is the key. Equality is the foundation of social justice!” Tewari tweeted, tagging the Congress and Rawat.
His party colleagues, Anish Sidana and Pawan Dewan, were more direct. Sidana, a former member of the Kandi Area Development Board, said Hindus felt neglected. Dewan, chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board, asked for better representation.
Sidhu’s early morning departure for Delhi made his supporters confident of an announcement of his elevation. They even put up hoardings in Amritsar thanking the party leadership. But no such announcement came.