New Delhi: As MLAs demand an airing of their grievances, the Congress has called a quick meeting of its legislative party in Punjab on Saturday at 5 pm.
"The AICC has received a representation from a large number of MLAs from the Congress party, requesting to immediately convene a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party of Punjab. Accordingly, a meeting of the CLP has been convened at 5 pm on September 18 at Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee office," said a statement.
"AICC directs the PPCC to facilitate this meeting. All Congress MLAs of Punjab are requested to kindly attend this meeting," tweeted Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat.
Navjot Singh Sidhu also tweeted the same information about hurriedly called meet and the central body is likely to send observers. Harish Chaudhary and Ajay Maken will be likely be the central observers for the Punjab meeting.
The MLAs have demanded that two neutral observers be sent from Delhi so that they can narrate their grievances. The prime movers this time are Pargat Singh and Tript Singh Bajwa, both are close to party state chief Sidhu.
Harish Rawat met Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday and sources said he has been asked to settle the raging tussle within the party as MLAs have once again started raising voices that amounted to calling the meeting.
Rawat is also said to have spoken to the top Congress leaders in Punjab. There has been no reaction from Captain Amarinder Singh so far.
Earlier, Harish Rawat had admitted that there were still some issues which are being resolved.
On September 8, Rawat had told ANI that the people assume party leaders in Punjab are fighting because the ''brave'' leaders put forward their opinion strongly.
Four ministers, belonging to the Sidhu camp, and a dozen party leaders had earlier raised a banner of revolt against the chief minister over the issue of unfulfilled poll promises including a delay in justice in desecration of a religious text in 2015, arrest of "big fish" involved in drug rackets and scrapping power purchase agreements.
Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi and three party legislators, who wanted Amarinder Singh to be replaced, had gone to Dehradun to meet Rawat on August 25.
Even Sidhu, who was declared the Punjab Congress chief in July after weeks of infighting and in face of strong opposition by Captain Amarinder Singh, keeps pulling up the government for not fulfilling the pre-poll promises.
