Efforts appear to be on within the Congress to prevent winds of dissidence from eroding the party in Punjab. Both interim president Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi have apparently taken upon themselves to carry out parallel sessions with the state party leaders in an attempt to save the House from being pulled down by the swirling storm inside.
Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday met party’s firebrand leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, a day before the three-member committee — set up by the party high command for ironing out differences — was scheduled to meet the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. And in the meantime, Rahul Gandhi has already held telephonic session with more than a dozen party leaders from the State, which included disgruntled partymen too.
The move comes just about seven months before the Assembly elections in the State and days after the party’s not-so-impressive performance in the recently-concluded elections of the five States.
Besides, the parallel sessions comes at the time when the three-member panel — comprising the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Punjab party affairs in-charge Harish Rawat, and former MP JP Agarwal — continued holding parleys with the State leaders.
Sources have indicated that the party high command is seriously considering to rejig the State party unit — a move delayed for long now — especially after the Uttrakhand’s former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has sought to relieve him from Punjab’s “additional” responsibility in the wake of ensuing elections in his home State along with Punjab.
Over the past few days, Rahul Gandhi had “talked” to several party leaders, and paid them a patient hearing to have the first-hand information of the ground realities in the state. Besides talking with the State leaders, Rahul has also got in touch with the senior party leader and Punjab’s former party affairs’ in-charge Harish Chaudhary.
Chaudhary, who had worked with Punjab party unit during the 2017 assembly polls, could be given the responsibility again as Rawat’s replacement.
“Rahul Gandhi had talked to me and I made him aware of the entire situation…I clearly told him that some issues need to be resolved at the earliest. including sacrilege where justice needs to be done as we have already delayed a lot in this matter,” said Congress MLA Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
“Even after four years, we have failed to reach at any conclusion…Now, it’s an election year, and we need to act,” he said adding that Rahul heard him seriously and assured to intervene. Kotli said he had also raised the issue of “unfavourable” comments against party by its own leader which need to be checked and stopped right away.
Another Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said that Rahul Gandh is talking several leaders-both senior and young ones. “The party is working on two aspects…We have Capt Amarinder who is an old and experienced leader and leading is currently. Secondly, thje party is working on collective leadership and ensuring that the party put up a united face as we, as a party, would not face any problem,” added the leader, who also claimed that RaGa talked to him also.
Sidhu meets Sonia Gandhi
A day after he presented his case before the high command constituted three-member panel, Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday met the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi. Even as the details of what actually transpired in meeting is unknown as of now, it has been learnt that Sidhu apprised Sonia Gandhi about the entire turn of events of the sacrilege and related firing cases, on which the Congress-led Punjab Government is currently on the backfoot.