Sidhu meets MLAs in Amarinder’s turf as supporters rally around CM
The ex-cricketers’s supporters also released his pictures with at least 30 MLAs whom he had met on Saturday
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu arrived in Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s constituency, Patiala, on Sunday to meet party MLAs and garner support for his elevation as state party chief, reports said.
Sidhu and several MLAs met Shutrana MLA Nirmal Singh Shutrana and later went to Ghanaur legislator Madan Lal Jalalpur’s house, where state Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was already present.
Jalalpur is considered close to Patiala MP and Amarinder’s wife Preneet Kaur. “I got a call from Randhawa that Sidhu will be visiting me. I have organised tea for him,” he told journalists.
The ex-cricketer’s supporters also released his pictures with at least 30 MLAs whom he had met on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Amarinder’s supporters continued their campaign against Sidhu’s elevation. Rajya Sabha member Partap Bajwa organised a meeting of Punjab MPs at his residence in Delhi and as many as 10 MLAs extended support to Amarinder. The MLAs urged the high command to not let down the chief. They said: “Due to his unrelenting efforts the party stands well entrenched in Punjab.”
Also read: Punjab Congress at crossroads: Will Singh or Sidhu be the king?
“Do not let down Captain Amarinder Singh, due to whose unrelenting efforts the party stands well entrenched in Punjab. There is 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 leaders said in an official statement.
They added that Amarinder had gained immense respect across different sections of 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”.
Amarinder on Friday shot off an angry letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressing his resentment over the party’s apparent move to appoint Sindu as PCC chief.
