Punjab CM gets into damage-control mode, holds secret meeting with dissenter Partap Bajwa; setback for Navjot Sidhu

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 18 

In a major political development that could alter the power equation in Punjab Congress, Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa is learnt to have “sealed” a political compromise with his rival, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Sources said a meeting between the two leaders took place at Sector 5 in Chandigarh on Thursday.

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Party MPs, who played a crucial role in the political deal, have confirmed the development.

Bajwa is keen on returning to Punjab politics by contesting the 2022 Assembly election. He, however, denied having met the Chief Minister or changed his stand against him.  

It is a setback for the dissident leaders, including Navjot Singh Sidhu, spearheading the campaign against the chief minister, but would also affect the decision to be taken by the party high command in the Punjab crisis in the coming days. 

Till recently, Bajwa had been in agreement with other dissident leaders seeking ouster of the chief minister. An open critic of the chief minister, Bajwa has mended his differences with Sukhjinder Randhawa and even joined hands with Navjot Sidhu.

A statement issued by Bajwa’s MLA brother Fateh Bajwa, coming in support of the chief minister, while playing down the differences between his brother and the CM, gave indications of the things soothing out between the two leaders.

In the wake of the party high command brainstorming to end the crisis in the Punjab Congress, the move has enabled the chief minister to blunt the attack by the dissident ministers and MLAs against him.

At the same time, it would enable the chief minister to counter the Majha brigade that has been the moving force in the dissent against him.

The Majha brigade, comprising Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhbinder Sarkaria and Sukhjinder Randhawa, has been the epicentre of the power dynamics.

But things changed after it joined leaders questioning the CM on sacrilege and police firing cases.