Infighting in the Panjab INC intensified in the past few weeks over maverick leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s personal rallies. Earlier, senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa asked Sidhu to join the party’s programs instead of setting up his ‘own stage,’ referring to the latter's 17 Dec rally in Bathinda. None of the senior leaders from the party’s state unit attended the rally in which Sidhu attacked the AAP government for allegedly failing to deliver on poll promises. Sidhu went ahead with another rally at village Kot Shamir in Bathinda district on 7 Jan. INC leaders claimed the function was not a party event. The rally was organized by Harvinder Singh Laddi, who contested the Vidhan Sabha election on an INC ticket from the Bathinda Rural segment. In the rally, Sidhu targeted former INC CM Beant Singh, who was in power from 1992-1995, on the extra judicial killing of Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke. Sidhu said, ‘It is not only the police but also the political leadership of the time who was giving orders [who are] responsible for such crime.’ Sidhu held yet another rally in Hoshiarpur on 9 Jan. For decades now, the INC in Panjab has had different power centers but one of the immediate triggers is the upcoming 2024 general elections and whether INC and AAP will tie up and contest jointly like in the Chandigarh union territory. The parties are bitter rivals in the state. By saying he has no opinion on it, Sidhu is emerging as a contrarian voice and might end up splitting the party in the state.
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