Stand unchanged, says Sidhu after meeting Congress panel

Former Punjab Minister, Chief Minister at loggerheads

Navjot Singh Sidhu coming out of Congress ‘war room’ in New Delhi on Tuesday

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu appeared on Tuesday before a three-member committee set up by the party to address factionalism in Punjab and asserted that his stand remains unchanged.

Mr. Sidhu, who has been openly attacking Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over a Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the incidents of Guru Granth Sahib desecration in the State, said “truth can be disturbed, but not defeated”.

“I came here on the call of the high command and apprised them of the state of affairs in the party. I have brought the voice of the people of Punjab from the grassroots level to the party high command,” he told reporters after meeting the committee members for over an hour and a half.

The three-member panel formed to broker peace between different factions in Punjab Congress comprises Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and former MP J.P. Aggarwal.

‘Told the truth’

“My stand is and will remain the same and unchanged. Punjab’s democratic right that goes to the government must return to the people in any form,” the Congress leader said. “I have told the truth inside in a bold voice. The voice of Punjab’s truth and its rights have been conveyed to the high command. We have to defeat all anti-Punjab forces.”

“The power of the people must return to the people. Every Punjabi must be made shareholder in Punjab’s progress ... Jittega Punjab, jittegi Punjabiyat, jittega har Punjabi [Punjab will win, Punjabiyat will win, every Punjabi will be victorious],” he added.

For several weeks now, the cricketer-turned-politician has been attacking the Chief Minister for allegedly not doing justice to those who were involved in the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari. He also lashed out at the government for failing to indict the Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali Dal government in the 2015 Kotkapura firing incident after protests erupted over the sacrilege issue.

Since Monday, the panel has been meeting party MLAs in batches of 25. It plans to meet the Chief Minister before submitting its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.