Government, party leadership to work unitedly towards steering Congress to victory in 2022 polls: Punjab CM

Sangrur: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday categorically said that his government and party leadership would work unitedly towards steering Congress to victory in the ensuing Assembly elections. While interacting with the media after dedicating Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial to people in Sangrur during a state-level function on the 82nd martyrdom of great revolutionary, the chief minister said that right now the party position is good and the same has to be further consolidated till elections. On the issue of organising roadshows in the run-up to the upcoming Assembly elections, the chief minister said there were no such plans so far amid COVD-19, which is at present under control. He, however, said that he will act according to the advice of medical experts on this count. Replying to another question about two power centres in the Congress party, the chief minister said that there was nothing unusual as Navjot Singh Sidhu in the capacity of PPCC president and he as chief minister are performing two different sets of responsibilities. Captain Amarinder Singh said that he also remained PPCC president thrice and knew well about the duties of the party president. Moreover, the government and the Party are two different entities having defined roles. Asked to comment on Sidhu not mentioning either his (chief minister), Rahul or Priyanka’s name in his address during the installation ceremony as PPCC president, Singh said that it is hardly any issue and doesn’t affect him at all. Answering to another query about Sidhu’s frequent meetings with party leaders and MLAs, the chief minister said that it’s the duty of the party president to strengthen the organisational structure which could only be possible by keeping close liaison with the rank and file of the party. He said that the party and government should work as a team since the Assembly elections are just six months away. Singh pointed out that the government would endeavour to live up the aspirations of the people while the party president is duty-bound to push the party forward in the political field. Asked to spell out the roadmap for the upcoming Assembly polls, Captain Amarinder Singh said that his government had already fulfilled 93 percent of the poll promises made in the election manifesto and would soon go up to 95 percent. He also mentioned that prior to his government, Chandra Babu Naidu’s government in Andhra Pradesh had previously made a record by accomplishing 83 percent of poll promises. He said that 5 percent of the remaining promises are left only due to the GST regime because when their party drafted the manifesto there was the system of VAT, not the prevailing GST. On the issue of 18 point agenda given by the Kharge Committee, the Punjab chief minister said that there was some confusion in this regard as his government had already implemented several points of this agenda and the remaining others would be accomplished soon. The chief minister said that he had already apprised both Sonia Gandhi and Kharge on this issue in their meeting. Ruling out any possibility of an immediate Cabinet reshuffle, Captain Amarinder Singh, however, said that he would surely discuss this issue with party high command during his visit to Delhi.