Did Priyanka Gandhi Play Peacemaker Between Rahul Gandhi, Sidhu? Punjab Cauldron Continues to Simmer

Amid a power tussle in Punjab Congress ahead of elections, it was Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who reportedly played the role of crisis manager by convincing her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to meet Punajb MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu.

According to top sources quoted by news agency ANI, no meeting of Sidhu and Rahul Gandhi was scheduled till Priyanka Gandhi took the initiative and convinced her brother to meet the disgruntled leader.

Sidhu on Wednesday met the former Congress president in the national capital in the backdrop of tumult in the Punjab unit of the party, ahead of next year’s state Assembly elections.

According to the sources, the meeting between Sidhu and Rahul Gandhi, which lasted for over 45 minutes, can be seen as a “meeting of reconciliation” in the Punjab Congress.

Earlier in the day, Sidhu met Priyanka Gandhi at her residence. She then went to Rahul Gandhi’s residence for a meeting with him and the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi. Meanwhile, Sidhu waited at the general secretary’s residence till she had returned.

If sources are to be believed, Sidhu meeting Rahul Gandhi means that he has agreed to reconciliation and the proposal of the high command is acceptable to him. However, suspense still remains on the proposal and whether Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is agreeable to it or not.

Earlier, to hear the resentments against the Captain Amarinder Singh government, Sonia Gandhi formed a high-level committee, which sought opinions from all the MLAs, MPs from Punjab, including Sidhu. Amarinder Singh has appeared before the committee twice. The committee has already submitted its report to Sonia Gandhi.

After all the exercise, the Congress high command directed the chief minister to take action on a total of 18 issues, including the Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case, within the stipulated time frame. These include all those issues raised by Sidhu to target the Punjab Chief Minister.

According to sources, with a few months left for the elections, Captain Amarinder himself does not want a confrontation with Sidhu but at the same time is also against giving any big responsibility to him.

State Congress leaders are also not in support of making Sidhu a substitute for Amarinder Singh. In such a situation it seems that Sidhu has no other option but to stay in the Congress and resolve his issues with the CM.

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