New Delhi, October 14:
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu will visit Delhi on Thursday to meet party’s general secretary KC Venugopal. He is also scheduled to meet Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat in Delhi.
The meeting between Sidhu and the senior leadership of Congress is first since September 28, when he posted his resignation on social media, saying he can’t compromise on Punjab’s future and its welfare agenda. The abrupt resignation triggered a fresh turmoil for Congress which was already struggling to control the infighting in the state unit, months before it is set to hold legislative assembly elections.
According to Rawat’s earlier tweet, Sidhu is arriving in the national capital to discuss the “organisational matters” of the state Congress with the party leaders. “Navjot Singh Sidhu, President Punjab Congress will be meeting me and KC Venugopal for discussion on certain organisational matters pertaining to the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee at Venugopal’s office (in Delhi) on October 14,” he tweeted on October 12.
The meeting also comes two days before the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in which the forthcoming assembly elections in five states, including Punjab, are on the agenda.
The Congress has been in turmoil in Punjab for the past several months and the replacement of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had faced a revolt by Sidhu and several other ministers and MLAs, has failed to put an end to infighting.
The cricketer-turned-politician had expressed his unhapiness over some appointments in new chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s cabinet. Following Sidhu’s resignation, both leaders held a meeting and agreed to a “consultation mechanism” to allow Sidhu to have a say in important decisions.
