Congress still confronted by a divided house in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Nov, 2021 12:28 PM
New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) The Punjab problem of the Congress is far from over as state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is against his own government on various issues and now the party is concerned about non-Sikh votes in the state.
With former Punjab President Sunil Jakhar being upset about being denied the Chief Minister's post, now the party is reaching out to these leaders. Rana KP, speaker of the Punjab Assembly, recently met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Party in-charge of the state Harish Chaudhary has reached out to Jakhar but sources say he was unable to pacify him and it is likely that Sonia Gandhi may have to intervene in the state's issues. Sources close to Sunil Jakhar confirmed the meeting on Tuesday evening.
However, the sources said he did not have any issue with the Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhary. If there is any issue, it must be between Sidhu and Channi about who will be the CM after the state elections.
Jakhar was once considered the top choice for Chief Minister but lost the race in the last lap when the issue of a Sikh as Chief Minister was raked up by senior leader Ambika Soni.
The Congress is also wary of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who may be eyeing the rebels in the party. Amarinder on Friday attacked Harish Chaudhary over allegations the latter made against him. Amarinder Singh said in a statement that although he owed no explanation to "an out of job legislator who has been sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in the murder case of Kamlesh Prajapat, in Barmer, and inquiry for which has been handed over to the CBI by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot", he still wanted to set the record straight.
The Congress is now fighting a dual battle in the state as after Amarinder Singh's exit, a still unhappy Sidhu is continuously questioning his own government and taking credit on behalf of the government, thus escalating the infighting in the state apparatus.
Sidhu has been courting controversy often and recently he referred to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as his 'elder brother' -- a repeat of 2018 when he visited Pakistan for the swearing-in of the latter and hugged the Pakistan army chief there.
He trashed allegations that the Border Security Force (BSF) would take over the state's administration or will be deployed in the Golden Temple, and said such misconceptions were being spread by certain people to score brownie points in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Accusing the BJP of only serving the corporates, he said the BJP government is committed to serve the industrialists who have already set up silos and other infrastructure because of the farm laws.
Claiming that the Delhi government has not withheld a single penny from the MCD, he alleged that the BJP has used its revenues earned from toll tax and advertisements for "illegal purposes". He also said that the saffron party has floated a tender for medicines, which cannot be procured before December.
An indication in this regard came on Tuesday when his media advisor Raveen Thukral extended an invite to the media for Amarinder Singh's press briefing in Chandigarh.
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