Amid the ongoing feud in Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Capt. Amarnider Singh on Tuesday met party president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Reports said the two leaders discussed the upcoming Assembly elections in the state and the plans of a minor cabinet reshuffle.
"Met @INCIndia president #SoniaGandhi ji in Delhi this evening to discuss various state related issues. Spent an extremely satisfying one hour with her,” tweeted Singh's media advisor, Raveen Thukral, quoting the CM.
This is Singh's first meeting with Gandhi after the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Punjab Congress president, which the chief minister had initially opposed.
According to an NDTV report, Singh complained to Gandhi that Sidhu's criticism "does not augur well for smooth functioning" of the government.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat, who was present at the meeting, said the Congress president advised that both the state government and the Congress unit in Punjab have to work together.
Both Singh and Sidhu have to work together within their limits and should cooperate with each other, he said, adding that the Punjab chief minister is not "upset" with Sidhu and has not stated so.
Soon after being appointed as party's state chief, Sidhu had met the chief minister and demanded immediate action on some of the key issues amongst the 18-point agenda set down by the party high command to fulfil ahead of the Assembly elections in 2022.
It was apparent that Sidhu's effort was to convey the impression that he was setting the agenda for the state government in the run up to elections. He wanted to send out the message that he, as state Congress president, was keen that the promises made in the previous state polls, are kept. This was also seen as an attempt to distance the party from the supposed failures of the Amarinder regime.
Ahead of meeting Gandhi, Amarinder had detailed discussions with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who had recently resigned from his post as advisor to the chief minister.
From Gandhi's residence, the chief minister went to meet Home Minister Amit Shah.
—With PTI inputs
