Punjab Govt, party must work together, Sonia Gandhi tells Capt Amarinder

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 10

Amid the uneasy truce between Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked the two to work in tandem and not at cross-purposes.

The nudge came at a meeting the CM had with Sonia at her residence this evening to apprise the high command of the progress made by him on the 18-point manifesto charter.

The Chief Minister, it is learnt, flagged Sidhu’s public criticism of the government and said the narrative “did not help”. This was the first meeting the CM had with Sonia Gandhi since the appointment of Sidhu as Punjab Congress President.

Sidhu only yesterday questioned the delay on part of the state government in bringing Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia and other accused in a drug trafficking matter to justice.

After the meeting, the CM left Sonia’s residence without making any statement. A tweet later in the day by his media adviser, quoting him, said: “I met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi this evening to discuss various state-related issues. Spent an extremely satisfying one hour with her.”

AICC in charge of Punjab Harish Rawat, meanwhile, said, “The Congress president has directed both the state government and the Congress unit in Punjab to work together and not at cross-purposes.”

The CM is learnt to have informed Sonia of the actions the state had taken to ensure smooth and affordable power to the residents of Punjab and the progress on the drug trafficking matters, which Sidhu vociferously raised yesterday.

The meeting came ahead of an impending state Cabinet reshuffle and a day after Sidhu tweeted, “Punishing culprits behind drug trade is Congress’s priority under 18-point agenda. What is the action taken on Majithia?”