A Congress meet that was not to be

Chandigarh/New Delhi, June 29

Hours after former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu left his Patiala residence for the much-talked-about meeting with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, the latter ruled out any such engagement with Sidhu as he left his residence to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi this evening.

“No meeting with Sidhu (Navjot Singh Sidhu),” Rahul told waiting mediapersons outside his residence.

May be rescheduled

• Party leadership may have been ‘unhappy’ over buzz ahead of the meeting
• Meeting is likely to be rescheduled and kept under wraps, say sources

Sidhu is learnt to have arrived in New Delhi for the meeting. His office had yesterday confirmed he would meet Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.

Sources in the AICC said there was “no meeting scheduled between him and the Gandhis as of now”. Efforts to reach out to Sidhu’s office remained futile.

With reports of Sidhu’s meeting with the Gandhis going viral, sources did not rule out the possibility of the party’s top leadership being unhappy over the buzz. They may now try to reschedule it and keep it under wraps. The meeting may take place in the coming days, it is learnt.

However, there was no confirmation whether Sidhu met Priyanka separately or not.

“As the meeting between the Gandhis and Capt Amarinder Singh is yet to happen, reports of party’s top leadership meeting Sidhu before the CM could create further problems in the state unit, which is already facing crisis,” said a senior party leader. — TNS