Over 20 Punjab Congress leaders, including Navjot Sidhu, hold meeting

More than 20 Punjab Congress leaders, including former state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, held a meeting at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district on Saturday.

Sukhpal Khaira, Congress MLA from Bholath who was present at the meeting, said that it was part of efforts to ensure a speedy revival of the party in Punjab.

He said like-minded Cong MLAs, ex-MLAs, 2022 assembly election candidates and the former PCC president converged at the residence of former MLA Navtej Singh Cheema at Sultanpur Lodhi.

"'We're sure party will take future decisions on merit n honesty in accordance with the mandate of 'Badlav' (change)," said Khaira in a tweet.

Sidhu, who quit as Punjab unit chief on the direction of Congress president Sonia Gandhi following the party's defeat in the recent assembly polls, shared a picture of the meeting on Twitter.

We will fight for Punjab's rights and truth with good intentions and honesty, he tweeted.

Other prominent leaders present at the meeting were MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, Rakesh Pandey, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Ashwani Sekhri, Nazar Singh Manshahia, Pirmal Singh Dhaula and Davinder Singh Ghubaya.

The Congress received a drubbing in the recently-held Punjab assembly polls as it could win only 18 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power by bagging 92 seats of the 117-assembly segments in the state.

Navjot Sidhu was also defeated by AAP candidate and political greenhorn Jeevan Jyot Kaur from Amritsar East seat.

Sidhu had resigned as the party's Punjab chief after Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers following the poll debacle.