Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Saturday any decision taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be "acceptable" to all after meeting AICC general secretary and Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat, PTI reported.
Singh made the statement amid speculation over likely elevation of disgruntled former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state Congress chief.
Rawat flew down to Chandigarh as tensions escalate in the Congress' Punjab unit over differences between Singh and Sidhu.
.”Had a fruitful meeting with @harishrawatcmuk. Reiterated that any decision of @INCIndia Presìdent will be acceptable to all. Raised certain issues which he said he’ll take up with @INCIndia president”, @capt_amarinder pic.twitter.com/UGOrSbJbeR
— Raveen Thukral (@RT_MediaAdvPBCM) July 17, 2021
The chief minister was later quoted by his media adviser Raveen Thukral as saying that he had a fruitful meeting with Rawat.
"'Had a fruitful meeting with @harishrawatcmuk. Reiterated that any decision of @INCIndia Presdent will be acceptable to all. Raised certain issues which he said he'll take up with @INCIndia president,' @capt_amarinder, (sic)" the official tweeted.
Rawat reached Chandigarh in a chopper around 12 noon and went straight to the chief minister's farm house in Mohali.
The visit is being seen as an effort to placate Singh, who wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday. He reportedly said that giving the post of state party chief to Sidhu, a Jat Sikh, would upset the party's senior leaders representing the Hindu community and harm the party's prospects in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Sidhu, a former BJP MP, had joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 state election. There are reports that he is likely to be made Punjab Congress chief. However, Singh has expressed his displeasure over Sidhu being given a key post, said the sources.
There is also talk of appointing two working presidents - a Dalit and a Hindu face to balance the caste equations.
The names of minister Vijay Inder Singla and MP Santokh Chaudhary were doing the rounds for the post of working presidents.
The chief minister is a Jat Sikh. Currently, Sunil Jakhar is the PPCC president.
Amid continued internal feud in the state unit of the Congress, Sidhu on Friday met party president Gandhi in Delhi.
Congress leader and chairman of Punjab Large Industrial Development Board Pawan Dewan urged the party to have a representation of the Hindu community on key posts in the state unit.
"Punjab Congress president - Jat Sikh (if Sidhu is made state Congress chief). CM - Jat Sikh. Punjab Youth Congress President - Jat Sikh Campaign Committee Chairman- Jat Sikh, Hindu kaha hai (where is the representation of the Hindu community)?" he tweeted.
Sidhu has been at loggerheads with Singh and he had attacked the chief minister over the alleged delay in justice in the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing incidents.
With inputs from PTI
July 17, 2021 at 05:22PM
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