Unease visible as Amarinder and Sidhu share stage; Rawat asks Congress big guns to maintain unity
Even as the two tried to brush aside their differences and put up an united face in one photo frame, body language suggested they were not on the same page.
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Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh with newly appointed State Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu. (Photo | PTI)
Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Navjot Singh Sidhu was installed as Punjab Congress president in the presence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday.
Even as the two tried to brush aside their differences and put up an united face in one photo frame, body language suggested they were not on the same page.
My first mission as the PPCC president is to use every resource in the state to protect the interests of farmers. Navjot Singh Sidhu
After months of deadlock, Captain and Sidhu were seen together on the stage, indicating efforts by the party high command to put up a show of unity. Even as both leaders announced they would work as a team in the run-up to the Assembly elections, their body language on the stage and at the tea party at Punjab Bhawan preceding the installation ceremony showed some discomfort. Sidhu and the four PPCC working presidents Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Pawan Goel assumed charge at the Punjab Congress Bhawan amid deafening sloganeering. The party headquarters was jam-packed. Roads leading to the party headquarters were lined with vehicles.
Navjot Singh Sidhu bats on front foot at photo-op with CM Amarinder
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Synopsis The much-awaited photo op of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh with Navjot Singh Sidhu finally happened with the CM hosting the newly appointed PCC chief and other Congress MLAs and MPs over tea at Punjab Bhawan on Friday and the two warring factions of the state Congress projecting a united face.
PTI
Newly appointed Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu interacts with Punjab CM Capt. Amrinder Singh at Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh.
(This story originally appeared in on Jul 24, 2021)The much-awaited photo op of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh with Navjot Singh Sidhu finally happened with the CM hosting the newly appointed PCC chief and other Congress MLAs and MPs over tea at Punjab Bhawan on Friday and the two warring factions of the state Congress projecting a united face.
Updated Jul 23, 2021 | 13:38 IST
Sidhu and Amarinder have been at loggerheads for a while, with the Amritsar (East) MLA even attacking the Chief Minister over the desecration cases. Newly-appointed Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu with Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh on Friday. | Photo Credit: Twitter
Key Highlights
Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian, two of the four newly-appointed working presidents of Punjab Congress, had on Thursday sent a formal invitation to the CM at his Siswan farmhouse in Mohali
Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat is also expected at the event
Chandigarh: Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday took charge as the new state Congress president following a bitter stalemate with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh that lasted for nearly two years.
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2 Congress working presidents Kuljit Nagra and Sangat Gilzian among others with the Chief Minister in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photo
Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, July 22
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday agreed to attend the installation ceremony of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new PPCC chief. The CM had earlier said he would not meet Sidhu till he publicly apologised for his “derogatory” tweets. AICC general secretary and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat, who reached here by a chopper late this evening, is expected to bring Captain and Sidhu together before the installation ceremony.
Significantly, 58 of the 80 Congress MLAs had on Wednesday signed a four-page letter to Captain, urging him to attend the installation ceremony. The letter was today handed over to the CM by working presidents Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian. Minister Sunder Sham Arora and former Batala MLA Ashwani Sekhri were also present. The CM reportedly told the working