Within hours of the meeting between Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh and AICC Secretary-General and state in-charge Harish Rawatamid the 'tussle' over talks of appointing Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new stateCongress chief, a reconciliation between the 'warring' leaders was held here onSaturday to project a united face ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled earlynext year.
Speaker Rana K.P. Singh, Pratap Singh Bajwa, Rajya SabhaMP and former PPCC President who is known in the political circles as a strongcritic of the Chief Minister, and Cabinet minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi called onAmarinder Singh at his residence on Saturday evening.
Photos of the meeting were shared by the Chief Minister'sOffice.
During the meeting between Amarinder Singh and Rawatearlier in the day, the former categorically told Rawat that he won't meetSidhu until he apologises for his 'derogatory' tweets.
Reiterating that he would accept any decision taken byinterim Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder Singh termed the meetingwith Rawat as fruitful, adding that the latter would take up the issues raisedby him with Sonia Gandhi.
The meeting between the two senior Congress leaderslasted for over an hour.
Minutes after the meeting, Amarinder Singh's mediaadvisor Raveen Thukral tweeted a statement by the CM that said: "Had afruitful meeting with @harishrawatcmuk. Reiterated that any decision of@INCIndia President will be acceptable to all. Raised certain issues which hesaid he'll take up with @INCIndia president."
AICC General Secretary Rawat reached Chandigarh onSaturday morning to meet Amarinder Singh. He returned to Delhi later in theday.
"I have just returned to Delhi after meetingAmarinder Singh Ji. I am glad that a lot of the things that are being discussedhave been proven pointless and Captain Sahib has reiterated his importantstatement that any decision taken by the Congress president will be acceptableto all," Rawat said in a tweet.
It has been reliably learnt that Rawat came to Chandigarhfor a meeting between Amarinder Singh and his bete noire Sidhu, ahead of theofficial announcement of the latter's appointment as the state unit chief bySonia Gandhi.
However, an adamant Amarinder Singh, who is reportedlyupset with Sidhu for targeting his government over the power crisis and thesacrilege issue, categorically told Rawat that there would be no rapprochementbetween the two until Sidhu apologizes in public for his 'derogatory tweets andinterviews', a senior Congress leader told IANS.
Conveying the party's decision, Rawat informed the ChiefMinister that there would be three to four working presidents of his choicealong with Sidhu. He would also be free to revamp his Cabinet, Rawat reportedlytold the Punjab Chief Minister.
An announcement in this regard could be made anytime, hesaid.
Interestingly, amid the hectic political developments inChandigarh, Sidhu, a former Cabinet minister in Punjab, called on state unitchief Sunil Jakhar at his residence in Panchkula, near here.
The duo held a meeting which is seen by the politicalcircles as Sidhu's effort to take everybody along in the party after he iseventually appointed as the state unit chief.
After the meeting, Sidhu called Jakhar his 'elderbrother' and a 'guiding force'. Jakhar, in turn, described Sidhu as a 'capableman'.
Later, Sidhu met Cabinet ministers Sukhjinder Randhawaand Balbir Singh Sidhu, besides meeting senior leader Lal Singh, a closeconfidant of the Chief Minister, and legislators Raja Warring, Kulbir Zira,Darshan Brar and Barindermeet Singh.
Randhawa told the media after the meeting that "allis well in the party".
"Seeking guidance of Presidents of the illustriousPunjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Conversations with wise men worth months ofEducation!!" Sidhu tweeted.