Chandigarh: Punjab Congress affairs in-charge and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said that “everything is not well in the state unit, but the party is moving towards resolving all issues soon”. He also stressed that it benefits CM Amarinder Singh and party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to work together.
Before leaving for Dehradun after his 3-day visit to Chandigarh, Rawat said, “We are a political and a democratic organisation, and being human beings, a number of questions arise. I do not want to hide from you that there are a number of questions which are unresolved, but they will be resolved,” he added. Sidhu had reached Delhi to meet the Congress general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while Rawat was in Chandigarh, but he could not meet her.
Rawat had said on the previous day that Sidhu had met him on Tuesday and briefed him about the work being done by him, and one should not see politics in it if he has some work.
The former Uttarakhand CM added that he had a detailed discussion with the chief minister on Wednesday about the issues raised by the state Congress leaders on public platforms and some solution will come soon. There was no discussion on any cabinet reshuffle in Punjab between him and Amarinder on Wednesday, Rawat clarified, adding that the Congress president has not yet given him such a mandate and he would share it publicly when there is any such development. “We could only talk about some of the points in the 18-point agenda. We had a detailed discussion on 5 points handed over by the PPCC president,” he said.
About the infighting between the chief minister and PPCC president damaging the party, Rawat said it benefits both leaders to work together, otherwise one will be facing one of the biggest challenges of his life and the other has a long future ahead.
“Those sitting in powerful places will have the biggest loss. So they should understand and utilise my services…,” said Rawat.
Though all party leaders in Punjab will work together, everybody has their own style of functioning, he added. On the opposition parties – the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – trying to bring a no-confidence motion in the special Vidhan Sabha session, Rawat said their leaders should first look within their party because their leadership is being challenged by their own members.
As the SAD has already announced a number of candidates for the state assembly elections, Rawat quipped, “We have established candidates. They have to do the exercise since they had lost elections in most places.”
Strategic policy group meeting postponed The first meeting of the 10-member strategic policy group constituted by the chief minister last month for better coordination between the party and the state government, scheduled for Thursday was postponed. The group headed by the CM has three members – ministers Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal and Aruna Chaudhary, and includes PPCC president Sidhu, four party working presidents Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny and Pawan Goel, and general secretary (organisation) Pargat Singh.AGENCIES
Attachments area