Sidhu moves to consolidate position

Punjab Congress chief has been meeting party workers.

August 05, 2021 10:26 pm | Updated 10:27 pm IST - CHANDIGARH:

Gathering support:  Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu addressing a press conference in Patiala on Wednesday.

Gathering support: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu addressing a press conference in Patiala on Wednesday.

After assuming charge as Punjab Congress president, Navjot Singh Sidhu has been travelling across the State to meet party workers and leaders to galvanise support and consolidate his position within the party.

Mr. Sidhu, a detractor of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, was appointed party president last month. Since then, he has been on the move to try and convey to the party cadre that implementing the central leadership’s 18-point agenda for Punjab is his key objective ahead of the Assembly poll in the State in early 2022.

By presenting the high command’s agenda at almost every meeting and interaction, party insiders feel that the underlying message he wants to pass on among the cadre is about the strong backing of the central leadership behind him.

He has already handed over a letter to the Chief Minister regarding the five priority areas of the 18-point agenda, which includes punishing the main culprits behind the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and the police firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015; the immediate arrest of “big fishes” behind drug trafficking in Punjab; cancelling “faulty” power purchase agreements; and steps towards ensuring that the Centre’s three farm laws will not be implemented in Punjab at any cost.

During his interactions with party leaders and workers, Mr. Sidhu has been forcefully discussing the 18-point agenda and the five priority points.

Addressing gatherings in Moga and Faridkot on Thursday, Mr. Sidhu said he promised to give the people of State the “Punjab” of their dreams by implementing the high command’s agenda.

The Opposition, however, has been quick to hit out at Mr. Sidhu. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have accused him of attempting to shelter the sand and liquor mafia.

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