Truce in Punjab?: Amarinder to attend Sidhu event today

New Delhi: After months of infighting in the Punjab Congress, the first signs of a truce emerged on Thursday. Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, after receiving multiple invitations, agreed to attend the ceremony on July 23 in which Navjot Singh Sidhu will officially take charge as the new president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Insiders say Congress president Sonia Gandhi persuaded the Punjab CM to be present at the installation ceremony. Also, the AICC’s Punjab in-charge, Harish Rawat, will also be present on the occasion of the new state unit president taking over.

Earlier in the day, Navjot Singh Sidhu and four other working presidents of the state Congress sent a special invitation to Capt. Amarinder Singh to attend the installation ceremony that is due on Friday. The CM was handed the special invitation at his farmhouse by two of the working presidents, Kuljit Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilgian, who made a special trip from Chandigarh on Thursday morning for this purpose. Accepting the invitation, Capt. Amarinder Singh in turn invited all Congress MLAs, MPs and senior party leaders from the state for tea at 10 am on Friday. They will then all go together to the Punjab Congress Bhavan for the installation of the new PPCC team. This was tweeted by the Punjab CM’s media adviser on Thursday.

The last two months have been tumultuous for the Punjab Congress unit. The utterances of Navjot Singh Sidhu against the Punjab government and the sitting chief minister had made the situation uncomfortable for many Congressmen from the state. After much deliberation and many rounds of negotiations, Mrs Sonia Gandhi earlier this week appointed Mr Sidhu as the president of the Punjab PCC, replacing Sunil Jakhar. At the moment the Punjab Congress appears united, but with the Assembly elections due early next year, it seems to be an uneasy calm.