Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh met the three-member committee headed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for his much-awaited one-on-one meeting on Friday, digging his heels in on questions raised by his detractors about his performance and style of functioning, according to people familiar with the matter.
On the final day of the exercise in Delhi, the chief minister met with the panel for nearly three hours, during which nearly 150 party leaders, including current and former state unit presidents, ministers, MPs, and other leaders, voiced their suggestions and grievances. He outlined his government’s accomplishments, including the fulfilment of 85 percent of election promises, a roadmap for completing unfulfilled promises, and a report card on his ministers.
The committee, which included Harish Rawat, the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) in-charge of Punjab affairs, and Jai Prakash Agarwal, a former Delhi MP, questioned the chief minister about unfulfilled election promises, his lack of accessibility, and his “overdependence” on the bureaucracy, and he responded to each point raised by party leaders. According to sources, the chief minister also had dossiers on shady land deals and the direct or indirect business interests of some party MLAs and other leaders in the mining and liquor industries.
The chief minister was scheduled to meet with the panel at 11 a.m., but arrived at 15, Gurdwara Rakabganj Road a few minutes early, followed by Rawat and Agarwal. Following the meeting, Amarinder stated that it was a routine introspection in preparation for the upcoming elections, which are six months away. He told reporters, “These are internal party discussions, and I do not propose to share them with you.”
Rawat, on the other hand, was more forthcoming, saying the chief minister was asked about the challenges and problems faced by party leaders, as well as his (CM’s) plan to address them before the election. He added that the committee also discussed the issue of sacrilege, which had been raised by several party leaders. “We understand the sensitivity of their feelings, and the CM does as well as we do. He (Capt) discussed the administrative and legal procedures in place. “I am hopeful that results will be visible in the coming days,” he said.
The Punjab affairs in-charge also stated that no one mentioned a leadership change during the discussions with an alternative, and that only the Congress president was authorised to speak on the subject. Despite his refusal to comment, there are indications that as part of the peace formula, the party may appoint more than one deputy chief minister, bringing former minister Sidhu back into the state cabinet and appointing a new state unit chief. Amarinder was open to re-inducting Sidhu (as a minister) after he resigned from the state cabinet in 2019, but was opposed to him becoming the state unit president, a position that the cricketer-turned-politician was eyeing.
