‘All is not well’ in Punjab Congress, says Harish Rawat over Amarinder-Sidhu rift
"I won't say all is well, but we are heading towards it. I do not want to hide from you. We are trying to solve the issue," Rawat told media persons.
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing rift in the Punjab Congress, AICC state in-charge Harish Rawat on Thursday revealed that all is not well in the party but claimed that state Congress is heading towards the ‘all is well’ situation.
“I won’t say all is well, but we are heading towards it. I do not want to hide from you. We are trying to solve the issue,” Rawat told media persons here. This comes after Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Pargat Singh on Sunday questioned AICC state in-charge Harish Rawat over the decision that Congress will contest the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Singh, who is believed to be close to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, said, “When all the MLAs had met the three-member Kharge Committee constituted by the party high command in Delhi three months ago, it was decided that the Punjab Assembly elections to be held in 2022 would be fought under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Now, if Harish Rawat is saying that the 2022 Punjab elections will be fought under the leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, then he should also tell when this decision was taken.”
Rawat, who earlier on Wednesday met Amarinder Singh, said, “Those angry ministers who did not come to meet me, I thank them. The government did some things very well which we could not appreciate. It is due to the Amarinder Singh government that the Bargari case is out of the clutches of the CBI.”
A section of Punjab Congress leaders have raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and said that a change should be made in the state if needed.
Rawat also rejected the speculation of the reshuffle in the Punjab cabinet.
“There was no talk on the reshuffle topic with Amarinder Singh otherwise we would have shared with you all,” he added.
Rawat had also met Sidhu on Tuesday amid the ongoing turf war in the party’s state unit.
The top leadership of the Congress party has made it clear that Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will be leading the party in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed Punjab Congress chief last month amid efforts by the party’s central leadership to end factionalism in the state unit. The assembly elections in Punjab are due early next year.