Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been appointed as president of the party’s Punjab unit ahead of Assembly elections due next year.
Sidhu’s appointment came after months of infighting in the state unit as the former cricket started had openly rebelled against Captain Amarinder Singh’s government over several issues. Besides Sidhu, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has also appointed Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra as Working Presidents of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.
“Congress president has appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect. Congress president has also appointed Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra as working presidents of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee,” according to a statement issued by Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
The decision came after rounds of meetings between Congress high command with Amarinder Singh and Sindhu.
While the AICC declared the appointment of Sidhu as PPCC president on Sunday late evening, 10 MLAs have come out in support of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh during the ongoing tussle in Punjab Congress. Meanwhile, in the midst of all this Navjot Singh Sidhu continued the process of meeting Congress MLAs on Sunday also.
The MLAs said there was no doubt that the appointment of state PPCC chief was the prerogative of the party high command but at the same time washing dirty linen in public has only decreased the party graph during the last couple of months. The MLAs said that it was due to Capt Amarinder Singh that the party regained power in Punjab in the aftermath of 1984 attack on Darbar Sahib and the subsequent genocide of the Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in the country.
They said that Capt Amarinder Singh commanded immense respect across different sections of the society in the state, particularly the farmers for whom he even endangered his chair as CM while passing the 2004 Termination of Waters Agreement Act. They said that the CM stood as a tall leader amongst the Sikhs because of his principled stand during testing times.
They also supported the demand of Capt Amarinder Singh that Sidhu who had made numerous tweets against him and the government should tender a public apology, so that the party and government can function in tandem. The MLAs offered a word of caution to Sidhu, who they said was a celebrity and was no doubt an asset to the party, but condemning and criticising his own party and government in the in public view has only created a rift in the cadres and weakened it.
Meanwhile, Sidhu’s process of meeting Congress MLAs continued. On Sunday morning, MLA Nirmal Singh Shutrana met him at his Patiala residence. After this Sidhu reached the house of MLA from Ghanaur, Madan Lal Thekedar, where he was given a warm welcome. Then he met MLAs Gurkeerat Singh Kotli and Lakhbir Singh Lakkha and former minister Malkit Singh Dakha in Khanna. Sidhu met former minister Avtar Henry along with MLAs Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh and Bawa Henry in Jalandhar.
