Will contest elections under the leadership of Amarinder Singh: Congress after demand for removal of Capt.
Supporting Amarinder Singh, the Congress party has said that the party will fight the next election under his leadership. Party in-charge Harish Rawat has given this statement in the state. Let us tell you that this statement of Congress has come a day after some leaders within the party advocated the removal of Captain. The party in-charge of the state, Rawat said that we will contest the 2022 Punjab elections under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh. The power tussle between the camps of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu intensified on Tuesday when four cabinet ministers and several party MLAs openly advocated the removal of Chief Minister Singh. While saying that he has failed to fulfill some major election promises. Sidhu was also targeted by a group of Punjab ministers and MLAs considered close to Chief Minister Singh, who called for strict action against Sidhu for his “alleged anti-national and pro-Pakistan remarks” and warned him. Granted that it could cause huge damage to the Congress ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections to be held in about six months.
Sidhu’s advisors Malvinder Singh Mali and Pyare Lal Garg have come under attack from the opposition and the party for their recent controversial remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan. Earlier, Amarinder Singh had asked Sidhu to rein in his advisors and rubbished his remarks, while Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday asked whether such people should be kept in the party.
The Punjab Chief Minister faced an open rebellion from the rival camp on Tuesday. Four ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi and around 24 MLAs met at Bajwa’s residence here on Tuesday. Asked whether efforts were being made to remove the chief minister, Bajwa said it was not an effort but a demand of the people. Responding to a question on the new face of the Chief Minister, Bajwa said the decision would be taken by the party high command.
Bajwa said he would seek time to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi and apprise her of the political situation in the state. He said “tough” steps need to be taken and if the chief minister needs to be changed, it should be done.
After the meeting, Channi told the media that several MLAs and ministers of the party gathered here on Tuesday and expressed concern over the promises which have not been fulfilled. These promises include delaying justice in 2015 in cases of sacrilege of religious texts, arrest of bigwigs involved in drug rackets and cancellation of power purchase agreements.
He said Bajwa, Sarkaria, Randhawa and Punjab Congress General Secretary Pargat Singh would meet the party high command. Later, Bajwa, Channi, Randhawa and some other MLAs met Sidhu at the Punjab Congress Bhawan. After this, Sidhu tweeted and said, “Received a call from Tript Bajwa ji for an emergency meeting. Met him at the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee office along with other colleagues. I will apprise the high command about the situation.
The recent efforts of the Congress to quell discontent in the state unit with Sidhu’s appointment seem to have failed and this development is expected to deepen the crisis in the state unit. Channi said that many MLAs are worried about the promises made by the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly elections which have not been fulfilled yet. Channi said, “Our issues are not getting resolved. We no longer believe that these issues will be resolved.
He said nothing happened after the SIT questioned former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Kotkapura police firing incident. Channi said that today the situation is such that our issues with the Chief Minister (Amarinder Singh) are not being resolved and hence we are going to meet the party high command. Target.
MLA Raj Kumar Verka, along with ministers Brahm Mohindra, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, said in a joint statement here that the remarks of Sidhu’s newly appointed advisers were clearly “against the interests of India and detrimental to national security”. The group of ministers and legislators demanded strict legal action against the advisers and urged the national leadership of the Congress to direct Sidhu to immediately rein in his allies in the interest of the party as well as the country.
Punjab Congress leaders said that Mali’s statement on Kashmir was contrary to India’s stated position on the issue and dangerous and such statements were not acceptable. He said that Garg’s statement also appears to be in support of Pakistan. Punjab Congress leaders slammed Mali for posting a controversial and highly objectionable sketch of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, calling it yet another example of her anti-party stand.
