'Don't let down Amarinder': 10 Punjab Cong MLAs write to party high command

NEW DELHI: Ten Punjab Congress MLAs have written to the party high command with an urge to 'not let down' chief minister Amarinder Singh.
This comes amid a bitter power struggle within the party between the chief minister and Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had publicly voiced his resentment against the leadership of Amarinder.
News agency ANI reported that 10 MLAs jointly wrote the letter. They are: Patti MLA Harminder Singh Gill; Qadian MLA Fateh Bajwa; Bassi Pathana MLA Gurpreet Singh GP; Gill MLA Kuldip Singh Vaid; Shrihargobindpur MLA Balwinder Singh Laddi; Baba Bakala MLA Santokh Singh Bhalaipur; Bhoa MLA Joginderpal; Maur MLA Jagdev Singh Kamalu; Bhadaur MLA Pirmal Singh Khalsa; and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Crediting Amarinder for the "well-entrenched" standing of the party in the state, the MLAs said "washing dirty linen in public has only decreased the party graph during the last couple of months." The clear reference was to the open discord between Sidhu and Amarinder.
"Captain 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.
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The MLAs also demanded that Navjot Singh Sidhu who had made numerous tweets against Capt Amarinder Singh and the government should tender a public apology "so that the party and government can function in tandem."
Punjab goes to polls early next year, and the party top brass is scranbling to find a solution to the feud between the two top leaders. Speculation is rife that Sidhu could be made Punjab Congress chief. There is also talk of appointing working presidents to balance the caste equations.
Meanwhile Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar has called an urgent meeting of party legislators and district presidents in Chandigarh on Monday, ahead of the likely revamp of the state unit.
"All the MLAs and district presidents would pass a resolution that the party high command's decision regarding Punjab would be acceptable to the entire state unit," Jakhar said in Chandigarh on Sunday.
This resolution will then be sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he added.

Sidhu earlier met senior party leader Pratap Singh Bjawa. Soon after the meeting, Bajwa hinted that he is willing to accept Sindhu as the next state Congress chief.
Some other MPs from Punjab also met Bajwa at his Delhi residence on Sunday, but maintained that they discussed farmers' issues only.
Sidhu on Sunday met Congress leaders in Khanna, Patiala and elsewhere.