Ahmed Patel likely to resolve rift between Amarinder, Sidhu

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel is likely to be entrusted with the task of resolving the rift between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, party sources said here on Monday.

The sources said that veteran leader Patel is likely to be entrusted with the job in the wider interest of the party. While Amarinder Singh is the most popular leader of the Congress in Punjab, Sidhu has been a key campaigner for the party outside the state.

Sidhu, who was allocated a new portfolio last week by Amarinder Singh, met party President Rahul Gandhi here on Monday. He is yet to assume charge of the new ministry.

"Met the Congress President, handed him my letter, appraised him of the situation!" Sidhu tweeted on Monday.

Along with the tweet, he posted a picture in which he was seen standing alongside Gandhi and party leaders Ahmed Patel and Priyanka Gandhi.

The rift between Amarinder Singh and Sidhu came to the fore when the Punjab Chief Minister kept the cricketer-turned-politician out of the crucial consultative groups which were announced on Saturday to review the progress and make changes, if needed, in the government's flagship programmes and schemes.

Sidhu has been camping in the national capital since Friday to have an audience with the party's top leadership.

--IANS

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