As part of proposals to boost the party’s prospects in next year’s assembly elections, a Congress panel seeking to resolve factionalism in the party’s Punjab unit recommended that chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh retain charge and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu be accommodated in a key role, senior leaders familiar with the developments said on Thursday.
On Thursday, the three-member committee, which included Rajya Sabha member Mallikarjun Kharge, Harish Rawat, the party’s Punjab in-charge, and former Delhi MP Jai Prakash Agarwal, submitted its report to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The panel met with 150 members of the party’s legislative and administrative bodies over the last two weeks. The panel also met with Singh and Sidhu, who have been embroiled in a bitter verbal spat. Now it’s up to Gandhi to make the final decision.
According to a panel member who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the committee made five major recommendations.
This included keeping Singh in charge, allowing Sidhu to join the party or become a top minister, reorganising the party, reaching out to marginalised castes and giving key positions to Dalits, and filling vacancies on boards and corporations to accommodate party leaders.
The panel member quoted above said the suggestion to give space to the cricketer-turned-politician was based on feedback from the party’s 80 Punjab legislators. ”They all said that it was going to be necessary to have both leaders and not just chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh,” he added.
The report also mentions a proposal by some MLAs to make Sidhu one of two deputy chief ministers, despite Singh’s previous opposition to the idea. Singh is open to appointing Sidhu as a minister, according to the chief minister’s office, but the latter wants a bigger role.
According to people familiar with the situation, Sidhu may be offered the position of campaign committee in-charge, but he is more interested in leading the party’s state unit, which is currently led by Sunil Jakhar. Singh is vehemently opposed to the idea and has previously expressed his disapproval.
Several MLAs and leaders complained about the CM’s style of functioning, lack of accessibility, and reliance on bureaucracy, according to a second panel member, but only a few demanded a change of leadership, including Sidhu, Jalandhar Cantonment legislator Pargat Singh, and Amargarh legislator Surjit Singh Dhiman.
“It (the committee) did not have the authority to investigate the change of guard. Unlike during Amarinder’s first term [2002-2007], when [Rajinder Kaur] Bhattal staked a claim, or other states with two-three strong groups, no claimant has put forward his case for the chief minister’s position here,” said the member, who did not want to be identified. The report included the detractors’ complaints as well as the chief minister’s response.
Tensions between Singh and Sidhu have been simmering since Sidhu resigned from the cabinet in 2019 after his portfolio was shifted. However, in May, the government suffered a legal setback in a 2015 Kotakpura police firing case, escalating the enmity.
