Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who have not been on the same page over certain appointments, have said that they will work with each other and fight the upcoming assembly polls together.
They met with each other during a meeting of party MLAs and other senior leaders on Tuesday evening to discuss strategy for the elections. The meeting was held on a day former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh resigned from the Congress and announced the name of his own political party – Punjab Lok Congress.
Senior Congress leader and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary was also present in the meeting where the party sought to show that there were no differences between Channi and Sidhu and the party will fight the polls unitedly.
Sidhu and Channi had not been on the same page over certain appointments which led to unease between them. ‘All is well’, Sidhu told reporters after the meeting. A party MLA said Sidhu and Channi told the meeting they will work with each other and fight the upcoming elections together.
Earlier in the day, Sidhu, Channi and Chaudhary went to Uttarakhand to offer prayers at the Himalaya shrine of Kedarnath. Congress MLA Navtej Singh Cheema said Channi and Sidhu shared their experiences about fighting elections.
In the meeting, all the party leaders decided to fight the polls unitedly, said Cheema, adding that the meeting was held in a congenial atmosphere.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Chaudhary said Punjab voters have decided to give the Congress more seats than they gave on 2017. Chaudhary refused to make any comment when asked whether the party is worried over the possibility that some leaders may be poached by Amarinder Singh.
A few days back, Amarinder Singh had claimed that many people from Congress were in touch with him. To a question on Amarinder Singh's resignation from the Congress, cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said he should respect the party which gave a lot to him.
According to party MLA Kuldeep Vaid, Sidhu told the meeting he would go to the constituency every in the run-up to the forthcoming assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the Punjab MLAs and the ministers expressed gratitude to Channi for his ‘recent path breaking’ decisions like slashing power tariff and the termination of the power purchase pact.
