Punjab: Split wide open in Congress

CHANDIGARH: Infighting within the Punjab Congress gathered pace over the sacrilege issue on Monday, as a group of party leaders held a meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.
The meeting comes at a time when chief minister Amarinder Singh and former cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu are engaged in a bitter war of words.

On Monday, a group of Congress leaders, including cabinet ministers, met to discuss the political implications of “negative perception” over sacrilege and Kotkapura firing case, even as three cabinet ministers issued a joint statement, urging the Congress high command to take disciplinary action against Sidhu for his “anti-party” act of “no holds barred” attack on the chief minister.
Congress leaders, including minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa met at cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s residence on Monday to discuss the fallout of the quashing of the probe report on Kotkapura firing case.
Sources said the Congress leaders were not only critical of the functioning of the office of advocate general (AG), they also expressed concern at the fact that even though a new special investigation team (SIT) had been set up by Punjab government, it was yet to visit the Kotkapura site, which showed the “non-serious” attitude. Some more MLAs too got in touch with the group later in the day.
The fact that the twin reports by police officers Siddharth Chattopadhyay and Harpreet Sidhu on drug trade in the state were yet to be made public was also discussed by the Congress leaders, added sources.
When contacted, Bajwa said, “The meeting was not against any leader or in support of anyone. Those who are concerned over fulfilment of the poll promise to ensure justice in the sacrilege and Kotkapura cases are coming together to express their concerns and find a way forward. Besides, the kind of vocabulary being used by the son of one of those who died in the Behbal Kalan firing case against the SIT amounts to indictment. All those who have faith in the Guru Granth Sahib are together on this issue.”
The leaders also discussed how to galvanise more MLAs to highlight the twin issues of damage control on the sacrilege issue and also the inefficient functioning of the AG office.
Ministers for action against Sidhu’s ‘anti-party’ act
Taking exception to the “no-holds-barred” attack unleashed by Navjot Singh Sidhu against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, a group of Punjab cabinet ministers on Monday urged the Congress high command to take strict disciplinary action against the “dissident MLA”.
Terming Sidhu’s “unmitigated onslaught” on the CM as an act of gross indiscipline and an attempt to undermine the Congress government in the state, the ministers said the MLA’s personal attack on Amarinder was an anti-party act, which called for immediate disciplinary action.
The ministers, including Brahm Mohindra, Sunder Sham Arora and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, came out in strong criticism of Sidhu’s actions and open criticism of the chief minister, while being an elected MLA from the same party.
Sidhu’s recent spate of comments against the chief minister could no longer be dismissed as rantings of a disgruntled member of a democratic political party, said the ministers, adding that the open rebellion was damaging the interests of the Congress at a time when assembly elections in the state were less than a year away. “Failure to take action against Sidhu now could trigger unrest in the party’s state unit, which would be fatal for the party, which had suffered major electoral blows in the recently concluded assembly polls in five states,” the ministers warned.
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‘Ex-min’s intentions nefarious’
Punab ministers Brahm Mohindra, Sunder Sham Arora and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot said it was more than evident now that Navjot Singh Sidhu’s intentions were “nefarious and motivated” by his vested personal and political interests. It was clear that the incalcitrant MLA, through his blatant accusations and allegations, was trying to fan dissent in the Punjab Congress against Amarinder, who had successfully steered the party to an unprecedented win in 2017 and in every major election in the state thereafter, they added.
Dubbing Sidhu’s aggressive posturing on social media as an attempt by the disgruntled MLA to pressure the high command into succumbing to his unreasonable demands, ministers said unless urgent steps were taken by the partyto check his unbridled tirade, it would encourage other ambitious and rebellious members to raise their voice openly against the leadership while continuing to enjoy its patronage.
Pointing out that the CM had made several overtures in recent past to resolve any perceived differences on Sidhu’s part, the ministers said it was clear that the latter did not want to be placated but only wanted to score political brownie points to further his personal ambitions.
Intentions are evident, tweets Sidhu
Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu continued to take pot shots at his own government’s chief minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, on Monday over the Kotkapura firing case of 2015.
Sidhu tweeted: “Nefarious intentions are evident. No high court stopped you in 4-1/2 yrs! When DGP/CPS appointments are set aside, orders are challenged in higher courts in a matter of hours. Now, first you attack the high court, then from backdoor accept same orders to deflect people’s attention.”
Sidhu shared a clip of the CM’s interview to a private channel, giving his reaction to quashing of the probe report into the Kotkapura firing case.