DEHRADUN: Amid reports of widening rift between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, the duo visited former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat in Dehradun on Tuesday. While official statements said the duo stopped at Rawat’s residence while travelling to Kedarnath shrine, party insiders said the visit was the result of party high command’s instruction to the duo to meet Rawat to resolve their differences.
A party insider from Uttarakhand told this newspaper that the rift is wide open for everyone to witness. “Sidhu and the CM can’t see each other eye to eye. They were instructed to meet Rawat ji and sort out their differences. Paying visit to Kedarnath shrine seems to be a viable distraction and an alibi.”
The duo along with Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Chaudhary and Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh are visiting Kedarnath shrine. Tough Congress leaders, including Sidhu, tried to portray that everything was fine, the photographs which surfaced after the meeting and from the shrine indicated that attempts to bridge the gap between Sidhu and the Punjab CM not working.
Sidhu, after meeting Rawat, told media person that “there is no greater ‘dharm path’ than ‘kartavya path’. “Dharm is working for the welfare of the needy and giving people happiness. It’s the message Lord Shiva. We came here to seek blessings so that we could work the people of Punjab.”
Meanwhile, Rawat said he felt happy to see that “all is well in Punjab”. Everything is working flawlessly and the Congress party is dealing with issues efficiently. I have full confidence in the likes of Harish Chaudhary. Working together in Punjab is taking us towards victory for the Congress.”