Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh have been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases.
The issue of extending support to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party is "under consideration", Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member strategic policy group to ensure better coordination between the party and the state government and expedite implementation of various government programmes.
The cricketer-turned-politician thanked the party leadership for appointing him head of the Punjab unit and said he would work with every 'member of the Cong family' to fulfil the 'Jittega Punjab' mission and strengthen the party's organisation in the state.
The additional director general of police (security), however, said in an order on Friday that the security personnel were 'being withdrawn on a purely temporary basis in connection with an emergent law and order duty'.
From the 'group of 23' leaders, who had written letter to Gandhi seeking Congress' overhaul, Azad and Sharma continue to be regular members of the CWC,
Navjot Singh Sidhu quit as the Punjab PCC chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
Pulling out all stops on the last day of campaigning, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reached out to the electorate holding a roadshow in Sultanpur Majra.
'Everything else is a sham.'
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh has been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases.
Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Nagra and Rana Gurjit Singh are likely to be included in the cabinet, according to the sources.
Farmer organisations also called for boycott of mandis or wholesale markets in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mahrashtra, leading to fears of shortage and price rise.
After taking charge at the state Congress headquarters, the cricketer-turned-politician said there was no difference between an ordinary worker of the party and its state unit chief.
The AAP has declared candidates on six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
The Congress on Monday appointed the party's Punjab unit chief Navjot Sidhu as chairman of the state election committee.
After the Opposition, now Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and two MLAs of the party have questioned their government's decision of giving jobs to sons of two legislators and urged Chief Minister Amarinder Sigh to roll back the 'ill-advised' move.
'Sidhu's suggestions regarding formation of the new government were completely ignored, so he stepped down.' 'Channi's government is walking on the same path as Amarinder Singh's.'
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met more than 20 party leaders, including ministers, MLAs and MPs at his farmhouse in Mohali's Siswan, sources said. Sidhu, who may be declared the state party chief, met four ministers and at least six MLAs at the residence of Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa in Chandigarh, they said.
A beaming Amarinder Singh thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support, saying he was committed to good governance and tackling the drug menace.
The decision was reached after an over two-hour meeting at the Punjab Congress Bhavan between chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu, who had resigned from the post of the state party chief on Tuesday.
Several Punjab Congress leaders, including Navjot Singh Sidhu, were on Thursday prevented from heading to Lakhimpur Kheri and were detained at a police station in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
'If you put your own party into the witness box, like what Sidhu did, and treat them as wrongdoers, then how will the people of Punjab trust the party?'
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