‘Party high command decision supreme’: Navjot Sidhu to Punjab Congress amid row over alliance with AAP

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India]: Amid the ongoing tension within the Punjab Congress unit over alliance with the Aam Adami Party (AAP) to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together, Congress Punjab leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Wednesday urged his party leaders to end all the dispute and obey the party high command.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sidhu wrote, “The decision of the party high command is supreme.” He further said, “It is for a greater cause; the national interest has been kept paramount to honor the spirit of the constitution and to free the enchained institutions that draw their strength from constitutional values.

Petty perish pump politics loaded with selfish vested interests should be discarded to safeguard our democracy. Elections are not fought for the next election; they are fought for the next generation. Long live India. Jurrega Bharat,” he wrote.

The Pujab unit of the Congress is deeply divided over an alliance with the AAP which upset the Congrees and Akali Dal in the last assembly elections. Speaking to media, the Punjab leader of the opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday said, “We are going to discuss the entire matter with the party high command.

We are going to discuss the matter with Kharge Ji and Rahul Ji, and only then will we come to any conclusion. There are strong reservations among the party leaders, and we need to discuss things with the party high command,” he said.

The leaders of the Congress party in Punjab have strongly opposed an alliance with the Aam Adami Party (AAP) under the INDIA bloc. The development came after Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that the AAP would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state in an alliance with Congress under the INDIA bloc.

Meanwhile, PCC Chief Amrinder Raja Singh Warring held a series of meetings with district party presidents, MLAs, and an MP on Tuesday to get their feedback on Cheema’s remarks.

Speaking to media, Amarinder Singh Raja Wading said, “Today a meeting has been held with the leaders and district presidents of our party on the INDIA alliance and issues in which we have discussed the elections in Punjab in the coming days.

He said that the High Command has told us to prepare to fight on 13 out of 13 seats, and we will fight on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.”

He further said, “This is the party’s internal issue; we will have discussions with our leadership. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have asked us to prepare to contest on all 13 Lok Sabha seats to fight against the government.”