New Delhi:
There are nonetheless some points to be resolved earlier than the Amarinder Singh-Navjot Sidhu feud could be lastly put to mattress, however there’s a “desire for peace” forward subsequent 12 months’s election, which is a precedence for the Congress, the get together’s Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat advised NDTV on Monday.
Mr Rawat – who led the three-member crew deployed by Sonia Gandhi to include and resolve squabbles between the Chief Minister and his fierce critic – praised Mr Singh for his “big heart” in internet hosting Mr Sidhu to tea forward his presentation as Punjab Congress chief.
“I am not saying all issues have been resolved… we are a dynamic party. But the senior Punjab leadership, which includes Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu, knows it needs to work together ahead the 2022 polls. History is given us a great responsibility to win this election,” he stated.
The truce in Punjab Congress – the results weeks hushed (and not-so hushed) talks with Mr Singh, Mr Sidhu, and MLAs and MPs loyal to every – is welcome information for the Congress, significantly because it threatened the lack one many only a few states it guidelines personal its personal now.
Part the pro that truce, the Congress has stated, is a photograph the 2 rivals smiling amicably at one another, arms folded in a namaste, from throughout a desk set for tea. Some, nonetheless, recommend this nothing greater than a photo-op – to briefly quieten the hearsay mill.
In an effort to not threaten that steadiness, Mr Rawat praised each leaders; he thanked the Chief Minister for his “magnanimity” and flagged Mr Sidhu’s willingness to hunt his rival’s blessings.
“We were not sure if he would host the tea party. Captain (Mr Singh) showed his magnanimity, took the higher moral ground, and Sidhu reciprocated. I hope this goes on in the future too.”
Harish Rawat led the three-man Congress crew tasked with resolving Punjab infighting
“Our aim is the 2022 Punjab poll. We want Sidhu’s aggression because we want someone who bats at the front foot. We also need Amarinder Singh’s experience,” he stated
However, when requested if Mr Sidhu was a possible chief ministerial candidate for the 2022 election, Mr Rawat was non-committal, replying: “The high command decides… this is acceptable to us.”
“There may be others too who could be contenders… but there is a system in place to decide on the chief minister after the polls. The high command will decide this, and this is acceptable to us all… to Sidhu and even to Harish Rawat,” he stated.
Mr Sidhu and Mr Singh have confronted f for months until the previous was appointed Punjab Congress President final week, a lot to the latter’s consternation; Mr Singh solely gave in on the final minute, after one ultimate demand at a public apology – which continues to be pending – for his rival’s many swipes.
Hours earlier the 2 met for tea at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh, the place that photograph was taken.
The ‘tea get together’ immediately appeared to mark the tip hostilities between the 2. After tea they shared a stage at Mr Sidhu’s formal presentation, and every had suitably optimistic issues to say.
The rigidity, although, was nonetheless there and each delivered blink-and-you’ll-miss-it warning pictures; Mr Sidhu referred to the state’s “many problems” and Mr Singh introduced up Pakistan and China.
The feud between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu dates again to the 2017 election, when the previous cricketer hoped to be made Deputy Chief Minister however was reportedly denied by Mr Singh.
Mr Sidhu, the Congress’s star campaigner in that election, as a substitute turned a minister within the Amarinder Singh authorities however stop two years later after his ministry was downgraded.
After extended silence and detachment from get together affairs, he started re-targeting Amarinder Singh in current months, changing into a hard-to-ignore downside within the run-up to the Punjab election.
This prompted Sonia Gandhi to represent that three-man committee that spoke to Mr Singh and Mr Sidhu, as nicely MLAs and MPs from each camps earlier than delivering a “compromise formula”.
