Punjab Cong crisis: Harish Rawat to visit state soon; briefs Rahul Gandhi

PTI, Aug 28, 2021, 2:46 PM IST

New Delhi: Amid the continued infighting in the Punjab Congress, AICC general secretary Harish Rawat Saturday said he would visit the state soon as he briefed former party president Rahul Gandhi on the situation.

Rawat apprised Gandhi of the latest developments as factions supporting Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu engaged in a war of words.

“I have briefed him on whatever the situation in Punjab is,” Rawat, also the in-charge of party affairs in the state, told reporters after meeting Gandhi here.

“In the next two-three days, I will visit Punjab and will meet party leaders. I will also meet Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu,” he said.

The Punjab Congress finds itself as a divided lot a few months ahead of assembly elections, with Singh and Sidhu being at loggerheads. The infighting refuse to die down even after the former cricketer was appointed the PCC chief.

Sidhu has also urged the party leadership to give him freedom in decision-making, telling them that he does not want to be a dummy party chief.

He said this after one of his advisers — Malvinder Singh Mali — had to quit following pressure from the chief minister’s camp over his alleged controversial remarks on Kashmir.

After this, some dissident ministers and MLAs had met Rawat at Dehradun and demanded the chief minister’s removal.

However, Rawat made it clear that the next assembly elections would be fought under Singh’s leadership.

The chief minister’s camp also sought action against Sidhu over Mali’s remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan.