MPs, ministers call on Capt Amarinder Singh to counter Congress dissidents

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 3

As the dissident ministers and MLAs are fortifying their position against Capt Amarinder Singh while staying put in the national capital, at least three MPs, two ministers and a few MLAs met the Chief Minister after he reached his Delhi residence on Thursday.

MPs Ravneet Bittu, Gurjeet Aujla and Manish Tewari, ministers Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and Vijay Inder Singla and MLAs Ravinder Amla and Dr Raj Kumar Verka were among the leaders who called on the Chief Minister.

Capt Amarinder after meeting the three-member AICC panel led by Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge can also meet the party’s top leadership to put forth his view point, even as the dissident group is trying to consolidate formidable numbers against the Chief Minister.

Only yesterday, a move by five ministers led by Sukhjinder Randhawa and Charanjit Channi to boycott Wednesday’s virtual Cabinet meeting backfired as other ministers refused to toe the line, seen as a mark of protest against the Chief Minister.

Ministers Randhawa, Channi, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Tript Rajinder Bajwa and Gurpreet Kangar, who are camping in Delhi, wanted to send across a message to the party high command and the three-member AICC panel (hearing Punjab Congress leaders over the infighting issue) that the Cabinet was not with the Chief Minister. The timing of the move was significant as the Chief Minister is scheduled to appear before the panel on Friday.

The “boycott”, however, fizzled out following disagreement among the ministers. The rationale for attending the meeting was given that since the AICC panel was in advanced stage of hearing Punjab leaders, creating unnecessary hype against the CM could signify that the dissidents did not have faith in the party high command. Six other ministers, Brahm Mohindra, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sunder Sham Arora, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Manpreet Badal and Razia Sultana, attended the meeting from Chandigarh.

Since the ministers were conveyed in the morning that only a two-point agenda was being taken up, the Cabinet meeting was wrapped up in half an hour as the three-member committee was hearing out ministers, said a senior government functionary.

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