Though the AICC has tried to put an end to the ongoing political turmoil in Punjab by appointing former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as state Congress president, it seems all is not well in the party.
While Sidhu continued the process of meeting ministers, MLAs and Congress leaders, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also held a meeting with some ministers and MLAs at his official residence in Sector 2 here. Sidhu met ministers, MLAs and other senior leaders including outgoing PPCC president Sunil Jakhar at the official residence of Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa in Sector 2 itself, but his meeting with Captain did not materialise. According to sources, Sidhu has sought an appointment with the CM and is waiting for his reply. So it is clear that the distance between Captain and Sidhu still persists. When and how it will end, is the biggest question at the moment.
Meanwhile, after his appointment as PPCC president, Sidhu paid obeisance at Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib, Kali Mata Mandir and a mosque in Patiala on Sunday night, while on Monday morning he started from Patiala with MLAs Amarinder Singh Raja Wading and Kulbir Singh Jeera and reached Mohali residence of working president of PPCC and MLA Kuljit Singh. He then met Sunil Jakhar and Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon.
Then with them he reached the residence of minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa located in Sector 2, where Bajwa including ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Charanjit Singh Channi, Razia Sultana and many other MLAs were already there.
At the same time, the Chief Minister held a meeting with Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana K.P. Singh, former PPCC president Lal Singh, Ministers Brahm Mahindra, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and some MLAs at his official residence. Although it was formally told that discussions related to development in various areas took place during this meeting, it is believed to be related to the current turmoil in the Congress. In this way, despite being present in the same sector at the same time, Captain and Sidhu did not meet each other and held parallel meetings.