Amarinder Singh absent at CWC meet

NEW DELHI: Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh was today absent at the day-long Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here today.

Amarinder, a permanent invitee to CWC, the highest decision-making body of the party, was absent at the meet chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi and attended by top Congress leaders.

He is among a set of Congress leaders from Punjab who are in race to head the party's state unit currently led by Partap Singh Bajwa.

While Amarinder had met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi several times in the recent past, he has maintained silent on the goings-on ahead of the much talked-about reshuffle in Punjab Congress where the party has suffered defeat at the hands of ruling SAD-BJP combine in two successive assembly elections.

Amarinder had stayed away from almost the entire monsoon session of Parliament.

The party's top leadership has been holding hectic deliberations with state leaders who have all met the Congress top brass ahead of a possible reshuffle in its Punjab unit.

While Amarinder was not available for comments, sources close to him said he was busy giving final touches a new book on the 1965 war which is set to be released on September 20.