In a bid to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Punjab unit of the Congress, the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi met state Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at her residence 10 Janpath in Delhi on Tuesday. However, ahead of Sonia Gandhi meeting Amarinder Singh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the Congress president.
After the meeting, Amarinder Singh said that he is ready to accept whatever decision Sonia Gandhi would take ahead of crucial Assembly elections in the state. “Whatever decision is taken by the Congress high command, we will go by it,” Amarinder Singh told reporters outside 10 Janpath.
This much-awaited meeting is being viewed as a final attempt by the Congress high command to resolve the feud between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, a cricketer-turned-politician and Congress MLA from Punjab. Asked about whether any announcement would be made on a key post for Sidhu, he replied, “I don’t know anything about Sidhu saab, jo bhi faisla hoga,woh ham amal karenge jo congress president chahtey hain.”
The meeting lasted around 90 minutes and the two leaders discussed governance and political matters. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge were also part of the meeting.
Kharge is the head of the three-member committee which was formed by Sonia Gandhi to end factionalism in the state.
Amarinder Singh had earlier appeared twice before the committee. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had earlier met Sidhu, at Rahul Gandhi’s residence, and are said to have offered him a prominent role in the party to placate him.