Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will attend the meeting of Chief Ministers of all the Congress-ruled states with the party’s national president Rahul Gandhi on Monday.
It is believed that the meeting was organised to urge the party chief Rahul Gandhi to take back his decision to resign from his post.
Capt Amarinder has confirmed his participation in the meeting. This will be Capt Amarinder’s first meeting with Rahul Gandhi after completion of 2019 general elections.
Even as the Congress central leadership is embroiled in its own troubles and making efforts to resolve the leadership issue, its Punjab unit is also facing crisis with top leaders — Capt Amarinder and his Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu — entered in the power struggle.
Capt Amarinder, holding Sidhu responsible for the party’s not-so-good performance in the state’s urban areas during recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, had divested him of Local Government Department while allotting him Power Ministry which he has not taken over yet.
Sidhu has already met Rahul Gandhi to defend himself, and given him a detailed letter, demanding his Local Government Department back. It has been learnt that Sidhu has also asked for the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
Apprised of the issue, Rahul Gandhi had given the party’s veteran Ahmed Patel the responsibility to resolve the issue between the two.
Capt Amarinder, during his recent visit to the national capital, had met Patel a day before and made it clear to him that he would not change his decision regarding change in Sidhu’s portfolio.
It is believed that Sidhu may finally be forced to assume the charge of his new Department next week. Speculations are also that Capt Amarinder, who has already been overseeing the functioning of the Power Department, may decide to withdraw the portfolio in case Sidhu continues to be defiant.
But, the discussion on Sidhu is likely to come up only if Capt Amarinder and Rahul Gandhi get some time separately.
Besides Capt Amarinder, it has been learnt that the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath, Puducherry V Narayanasamy will meet Rahul Gandhi at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara is also likely to attend the meet.
Rahul Gandhi, who became the party president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking the moral responsibility for the Congress’ debacle in the polls in which the party won 52 seats — just eight more than what it won in 2014 polls. However, Gandhi’s resignation offer was unanimously rejected by the CWC.
Numerous Congress leaders and office bearers have also tendered mass resignations from their respective posts following Rahul’s decision to resign.