Ahead of Assembly polls, Navjot SIngh Sidhu likely to return to Punjab government

Congress appeared to explore a role for party rebel Navjyot Singh Sidhu in the Punjab government to quell the factionalism in state unit ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

Sidhu, who joined the Congress in 2017, has found himself on the margins of the party after he quit the Punjab government over a tiff with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in 2019.

Singh met the three-member panel chaired by veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge to put resolve the differences within the Punjab Congress. The Kharge panel, which as senior leaders Harish Rawat and J P Agarwal as members, has been interacting with party MLAs, MPs and other leaders since Monday.

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Congress may ask the chief minister to reshuffle his council of ministers to accommodate the disgruntled leaders, including Sidhu. Congress leadership is keen to avoid a major flare up in the state unit as the party’s prospects of retaining power in Punjab were higher as the opposition has been in a disarray.

Sidhu, who aspires to be the Punjab Congress chief, has been critical of the chief minister for his handling of the sacrilege case and his style of functioning. After Sidhu’s attacks on Singh grew over the past few weeks, the cricketer-turned-politician was the target of a vigilance department probe, an action that saw rebels rally behind him.

Read | Rahul Gandhi steps in to tame Punjab fire

When Singh met the Kharge-led panel, he is learnt to have come prepared over Sidhu’s “misdemeanours” as a minister in the government and his latest actions. Sidhu is considered close to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

“The meeting was to discuss the preparations for the Assembly elections scheduled early next year. These are our inner party discussions and I don't propose to share them with you,” the chief minister told reporters after the meeting with the three-member panel.

Rawat, the AICC General Secretary in-charge of Punjab, said the Kharge panel will submit their report to Congress President Sonia Gandhi sometime next week.