CHANDIGARH: With an eye on the 2024 parliamentary elections, the newly elected Punjab Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring is trying to take every leader and worker along to strengthen the party in the state, with feelers being sent to those who had left the Congress. He is also meeting party leaders across the state including those who were upset over being ignored. However, since he took charge, he and former state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have not met.
Warring on Tuesday met party leaders in Ludhiana including Rakesh Randey, Surinder Dabur and others and took feedback from them.
Sources said that the leaders who have received feelers to rejoin the party include Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Kewal Dhillon, Daaman Bajwa, Jagmohan Singh Kang, Malkit Singh Dakha, Amrik Dhillon, HS Hanspal and Joginder Singh Mann besides others.
Recently, Warring was in Amritsar to meet party leaders from the region. He met O P Soni, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurjit Singh Aujla and Sukhwinder Singh Danny among others. But the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu skipped that meeting. Sidhu went to Samrala near Ludhiana to meet former MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon and then met senior Congress leaders Lal Singh and Sunil Jakhar later that day.
The factionalism that plagued the Congress still continues. Former state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has got active and is also trying to strengthen his camp by meeting all the expelled and ignored leaders such as Surjit Dhiman and Amrik Singh Dhillon besides holding meetings with his confidants and other leaders including MLAs and former MLAs. He is also raising issues of wheat procurement, law and order and sand mining and questioning the functioning of the newly-formed AAP government. Sidhu has also been making sure that videos of his meetings with party leaders are posted on his social media accounts.
Efforts are being made by state party leaders for Warring and Sidhu to meet each other soon to send a signal that the party has a united front. Former state working president Sukhwinder Singh Danny is making efforts to bring Warring and Sidhu on the same page. Also, Congress Legislative Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa said the party will put forward a united front. Bajwa is also expected to meet Sidhu in the coming days.
On the issue of Sunil Jakhar not replying to the notice of the disciplinary committee of the party, Warring said that he is a senior leader and should have replied.