Four of his ministers and about 24 Congress MLAs of the state have revolted against Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. They announced that they have no faith in Captain Amarinder Singh as far as fulfilling of the election promises is concerned and a five-member delegation would soon meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue.
The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of an anti-Captain group of ministers and MLAs held here on Tuesday at the official residence of Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa. According to the information, Ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Charanjit Singh Channi along with about 24 MLAs, including Pargat Singh, Surjit Singh Dhiman, Davinder Singh Ghubaya, Kulbir Singh Jeera, Darshan Brar etc, were present in the meeting.
Bajwa said that they will demand for a new face as the Chief Minister instead of Captain, during the meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi. MLA and state general secretary of the party Pargat Singh said that Congress MLAs are not satisfied with the working of the CM. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “We have done a good job as ministers and there is no fear of losing ministerial posts.”
PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu was not present in the above meeting. Ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Charanjit Singh Channi along with MLAs Pargat Singh, Kulbir Singh Zeera, Darshan Singh Brar, Davinder Singh Ghubaya etc met him at Punjab Congress Bhawan after the meeting.
Sidhu informed through a tweet, “Got a call from Tripat Bajwaji asking for an emergency meeting. Met him along with other colleagues at the PPCC office. Will apprise the high command of the situation.” However, this development has further deepened the crisis in the Punjab Congress amid the shadow fight between the Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Meanwhile, taking strong exception to the comments of two of Navjot Sidhu’s aides, a group of Punjab Congress ministers and MLAs on Tuesday called for strong action under the law against Malwinder Mali and Peyare Lal Garg. The statements of both these newly appointed advisors of Punjab Congress president Navjot Sidhu were clearly against India’s interests, and detrimental to national security, said Ministers Brahm Mohindra, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, along with MLA Raj Kumar Verka.
Besides stringent legal action against Mali and Garg, the Congress leaders said that Sidhu’s failure to put his foot down on such statements by his close aides had given ammunition to the Opposition parties, which were quick to recall the PPCC president’s own bonhomie with the Pakistan Prime Minister and Army chief, they pointed out, warning against the massive damage this could cause to the Congress in the run-up to the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, which are due in less than six months.
In a statement, the Punjab Congress leaders termed Mali’s statement on Kashmir a dangerous and unacceptable deviation from India’s stated position on J&K. By questioning the unanimous 1994 resolution of the Parliament of India declaring Jammu & Kashmir as an integral of India (which was reiterated in 2012), Mali had blatantly toed the line of Pakistan, they added. Even Garg’s statement countering Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s criticism of Pakistan reflected strong pro-Pak leanings, they further said.