10 legislators back Capt Amarinder Singh, say he commands respect

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, July 18

Even as Navjot Singh Sidhu met near 40 MLAs to seek their “blessings” ahead of his elevation as the PPCC chief, at least 10 party MLAs issued a joint statement in support of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira, who recently crossed over from AAP to Congress, maintained that after talking to his colleagues Harminder Gill, Fatehjang Bajwa, Gurpreet GP, Kuldeep Vaid, Balwinder Laddi, Santokh Singh Bhalaipur, Joginder Bhoa, Jagdev Kamalu and Primal Khalsa, a joint statement supporting Capt Amarinder had been issued.

The statement says due to Capt Amarinder’s unrelenting efforts, the party stands well entrenched in Punjab. “There is no doubt that the appointment of state PPCC chief was the prerogative of the party high command, but at the same time, washing dirty linen in public has only decreased the party graph during the last couple of months,” it read.

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The MLAs said since merely six months were left for the elections, pulling the party in different directions would only harm its prospects in 2022. They also supported the CM’s demand that Navjot Sidhu, who had made numerous tweets against him and the government, should tender a public apology so that the party and the government could function in tandem. The MLAs offered a word of caution to Navjot Sidhu, who they said was a celebrity and was no doubt an asset to the party, but condemning and criticising his own party and the government in public had created a rift in the cadres and weakened it.