Known for standing by his officers at the time of crisis, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh continued with his lunch diplomacy in an apparent attempt to resolve the ongoing tussle between the state’s top bureaucrat and his Cabinet and party colleagues.
This time, the Chief Minister hosted luncheon meeting for the Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and the Technical Education Minister Charanjit Channi — the two who reportedly objected to the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh’s “rude behaviour” and led the Cabinet to decide to boycott the top bureaucrat.
The Monday meeting came four days after the Chief Minister met five Congress leaders, including state party chief Sunil Jakhar, Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and three party MLAs — Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Pargat Singh, and Sangat Singh Gilzian, in the same way at his farmhouse.
After the May 21 meeting, the Government sources claimed that the Chief Minister’s effort has paid off and the standoff between the Ministers and the Chief Secretary was now over. However, the Congress leaders seem to be not satisfied, and are now looking at Manpreet and Channi — the two who spearheaded the attack against the Chief Secretary — for the next move.
The leaders, who met the Chief Minister, had claimed that the Chief Minister has assured action in the matter.
It has been learnt that the Chief Minister is making fervent efforts to resolve the matter, especially at a time when not only the State but the entire nation is strangled due to coronavirus pandemic.
Available information suggests that the Chief Minister is in favour of convening a Cabinet meeting in the coming days, as the last one was held on May 11, which also ended amidst the tussle.
Sources informed The Pioneer that before the cabinet meeting, the chief minister wanted to end the standoff between the two sides, and that was why he was meeting the angered leaders and Ministers to give them a patient hearing.
While Manpreet had taken exception to the Chief Secretary’s “rude behaviour” and “unacceptable attitude” during a pre-Cabinet meeting, Channi has all along been enraged after he claimed that his Cabinet colleague Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa had “threatened” him of reopening an old complaint against him in case he did not bury the hatchet now.
Besides, Gidderbaha MLA Raja Warring has all along been leading a bitter attack on the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh on Twitter, and his claims were also supported by Minister Randhawa.
However, what transpired during the luncheon is under wraps, but it is apparent that the Chief Minister would have defended his Chief Secretary.
Notably, the Chief Minister has stood by all the officers, he handpicked and engulfed in any controversy during his tenure, like his Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar, Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta, and now Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh.