Pargat Singh, a close aide of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) President Navjot Sidhu and General Secretary of State Congress, on Sunday directly targeted Harish Rawat. Pargat Singh said that three months ago when all the MLAs had met the three-member Kharge Committee constituted by the party high command in Delhi, it was decided that the Punjab Assembly elections to be held in 2022 would be fought under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Now if Harish Rawat is saying that the 2022 elections will be conducted under the leadership of CM Captain Amarinder Singh, then he should also tell when this decision was taken.
Pargat Singh said that Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat is his good friend but who gave him the right to take such a big decision about Punjab at his level? What is the meaning of Captain's leadership now after Kharge committee's decision to contest elections under Sonia and Rahul?
This statement of Pargat Singh has come at a time when Harish Rawat is going to come to Punjab soon. Here he is scheduled to meet CM Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see what strategy Rawat adopts after Sidhu Group opens his front directly against him. Especially when Rawat is constantly talking about leaving the responsibility of Punjab incharge. It is worth noting that along with Punjab, elections are to be held in Uttarakhand at the beginning of next year and Harish Rawat is among the strong contenders to become the CM there. In such a situation, he wants to leave the responsibility of Punjab incharge and focus his full attention on Uttarakhand.
Pargat Singh also reacted to Navjot Sidhu's statement made in Amritsar in the past, in which he said that he would resort to retaliation if he was not allowed to take a decision. Pargat Singh said that Sidhu's statement was not for Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or the party high command, but only for Harish Rawat, the PPCC chief, because the responsibility of Punjab has been given to him by the Congress high command.
It is worth noting that last week there was a revolt in Punjab Congress against CM Captain Amarinder Singh. Four ministers of the Sidhu camp, Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sukhwinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria and Charanjit Singh Channi, had held a meeting with about 28 MLAs and said that they no longer trust Captain Amarinder Singh, so removed him from the CM's chair.
The four ministers and some MLAs from the Sidhu camp also went to Dehradun to meet Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat. However, even before meeting with this anti-captain camp there, Rawat said that the 2022 Punjab elections will be fought under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh.
After meeting the rebels in Dehradun, Harish Rawat went to New Delhi and gave a report first to Sonia Gandhi and then to Rahul Gandhi on the situation in Punjab. Some ministers from Punjab in the Sidhu camp had also gone to Delhi to meet the Congress high command but did not get time. It is being said that the high command decided not to meet the rebels only after seeing Harish Rawat's feedback and his report.
Sidhu camp is very angry with Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat regarding this whole incident. This was the reason that on Sunday, Pargat Singh directly attacked Rawat. It is worth noting here that despite the strong opposition of Captain Amarinder Singh, Harish Rawat played the most important role in making Navjot Singh Sidhu the head of Punjab Pradesh Congress.