Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says no meeting fixed with Navjot Singh Sidhu

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi did not meet disgruntled Punjab legislator Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday. On Monday, Sidhu's team had said he would meet with the Gandhis in New Delhi. The suspense over the meeting continued all day on Tuesday. When Rahul Gandhi was stopped by reporters outside his residence, he said that no such meeting had been scheduled.

Insiders claim that though Sidhu announced that he will be meeting Rahul Gandhi, a meeting may happen between the dissident legislator and the high-powered committee to sort out issues in the Punjab Congress that has been constituted by party president Sonia Gandhi. They added that maybe the optics of Sidhu meeting Rahul Gandhi may not be good especially when the former Congress president did not meet Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

The Punjab Chief Minister was in Delhi last week and met the high-powered committee and other leaders of the party. In the last couple of days, support for Captain Amarinder Singh has grown within the party. In a bid to solve the Punjab imbroglio apart from the high-powered committee, Rahul Gandhi also has been meeting several leaders from the state including ministers, MPs and MLAs.

The problem arose in Punjab when Sidhu opened a front against Captain Singh, charging him with not keeping his promises to the people of the state. Sidhu also went on a tirade against the Punjab Chief Minister in all publications and on his social media last week. The utterances of Sidhu have not gone down well with many in the party. The Congress high command is keen to solve the issue as soon as possible.