Punjab Congress MLAs write to high command backing Captain Amarinder Singh

New Delhi: Ten party MLAs on Sunday (July 18) wrote a letter to Congress high command backing Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in his ongoing tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu. They even demanded a public apology from Sidhu.

They urged the high command to not let down Captain “whose unrelenting efforts the party stands well-entrenched” in the state.

With assembly elections just months away, the rift between Captain and Sidhu has left the Congress legislators in the state worried.

“Washing dirty linen in public has only decreased the party graph during the last couple of months,” the MLAs said in the letter.

The signatories of the letter included Patti MLA Harminder Singh Gill, Qadian MLA Fateh Bajwa, Bassi Pathana MLA Gurpreet Singh GP, Gill MLA Kuldip Singh Vaid, Shrihargobindpur MLA Balwinder Singh Laddi, Baba Bakala MLA Santokh Singh Bhalaipur, Bhoa MLA Joginderpal, Maur MLA Jagdev Singh Kamalu, Bhadaur MLA Pirmal Singh Khalsa, and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.

The MLAs said that it was due to Amarinder Singh that the party regained power in Punjab "in the aftermath of the 1984 attack on Darbar Sahib and the subsequent genocide of the Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in the country."

"Captain Amarinder Singh commanded immense respect across different sections of the society in the state, particularly the farmers for whom he even endangered his chair as CM while passing the 2004 Termination of Waters Agreement Act," they added.

MLAs said that Sidhu, who shared numerous tweets targeting Amarinder Singh and the government, should publically apologize.

The leaders did acknowledge that Sidhu was an asset to the party but “condemning and criticising his own party and government in the in public view has only created a rift in the cadres and weakened it.”

The MLAs urged the high command to take note of their concern and ensure that Amarinder Singh is not undermined.