Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi amidst intense infighting in the party in the state. His meeting with Sonia Gandhi at the latter’s Delhi residence, 10 Janpath, came just days after his critic, Navjot Singh Sidhu, met Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Singh has been facing rebellion from his own colleagues ahead of the next year’s assembly polls. Sidhu took to Twitter on Tuesday to highlight the issue of power shortages in the state.
His tweets came even before Singh could reach Delhi to meet the Congress president. Sidhu wrote, “Hollow promises of Free power have No meaning until PPAs are annulled through a “New Legislation in Punjab Vidhan Sabha” … 300 units of free power is merely a fantasy, until the faulty clauses in PPAs are keeping Punjab bonded.”
Hollow promises of Free power have No meaning until PPAs are annulled through a “New Legislation in Punjab Vidhan Sabha” … 300 units of free power is merely a fantasy, until the faulty clauses in PPAs are keeping Punjab bonded … 1/6
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 6, 2021
The power crisis has become a key political issue in Punjab and Singh’s rivals are likely to use it against him in the run-up to the next assembly polls.
Sidhu had met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi last month. This was seen as tacit support by the Gandhi family to the Congress rebel in Punjab.
Had a long meeting with @priyankagandhi Ji ???????? pic.twitter.com/Wd4FYXFrhr
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) June 30, 2021
Several reports say that the top Congress leadership wants Singh to include Sidhu in his cabinet as a compromise formula.