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Navjot Singh Sidhu likely to be appointed as Punjab Congress chief as party ends tussle

Amid a tussle within the Punjab Congress, Navjot Singh Sidhu is likely to be appointed as the chief of the state party unit.

Navjot Singh Sidhu likely to be appointed as Punjab Congress chief as party ends tussle-dnm
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Bengaluru, First Published Jul 15, 2021, 4:48 PM IST

Disgruntled leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is likely to be appointed Punjab Congress chief as the party closes in on a formula to quell the intense infighting that has endangered its campaign for next year's Assembly election.

As per reports, Captain Amarinder Singh will remain as the chief minister while Navjot Singh Sidhu will be now be appointed as the president of the Punjab Congress.

Apart from Singh as the CM and Navjot Singh Sidhu as the PCC chief, Punjab Congress will also have two working presidents from the Hindu and Dalit communities.

A formal announcement on the development is expected soon.

As part of the compromise Amarinder Singh will also overhaul his Council of Ministers, with Charanjit Channi and Gurpreet Kangar among those likely to be sacked. Assembly Speaker Rana KP Singh and MLA and Dalit leader Raj Kumar Verka are among the three or four new faces expected.

On 6 July, Captain Amarinder Singh met Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi at her residence amid efforts by the party high command to resolve the factionalism in the party’s state unit. The CM said that he would accept 'whatever decision is taken by the Congress high command'.

Days before that, Sidhu had met party leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence in Delhi on 30 June. This took place hours after Sidhu met party General-Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at her residence in Delhi.

Sidhu had joined the Congress after leaving the BJP before the 2017 assembly elections. He quit the Amarinder Singh cabinet in 2019 over change in his portfolio.

In the last five months, his attacks on Captain Amarinder Singh have been public, and even called the chief minister a liar.

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi has been meeting party leaders from Punjab to review the political situation in the state in order to take steps to strengthen the party.

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