Navjot Sidhu calls on Gandhi siblings

Sulking Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra here on Wednesday amid attempts by AICC to sort out factional issues in poll-bound Punjab. There are indications that Congress’ interim chief Sonia Gandhi may announce a new PCC chief, AICC in-charge and election teams for the border state.

Sidhu advertised his meeting with Vadra and alerted the media about his meeting with Gandhi. This was seen as an attempt by him to convey to one and all that he was still being engaged by Delhi despite his running feud with CM Amrinder Singh, who recently left Delhi without meeting the Gandhis. Sidhu is known to be banking on, and advertising, his reported closeness to Vadra.

While Sidhu wants to be either the PCC chief or a deputy CM, Singh is opposed to the proposal and is inclined to re-accommodate him only as a Cabinet minister or as campaign committee head. With Punjab AICC in-charge Harish Rawat keen to stay focussed on his home state Uttarakhand, many names including that of JP Aggarwal, part of the three-member AICC panel dealing with the Punjab issues, are being talked about as new state in-charge.