Sonia's panel starts one-on-one meetings with ministers, MLAs; end Captain vs Sidhu "war" likely

All ministers, MLAs summoned to Delhi for meeting with panel. Here's what you need to know.

To bring a 'truce' between two warring factions in the Punjab Congress, a three-member panel constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi has started one-to-one meetings with ministers and legislators of the party at Delhi on Monday.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, Sunil Jakhar, who is known for his proximity with Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh, was first to meet with a three-member panel today at Delhi.

punjab cm amrinder singh, amrinder singh meets mumbai industrialists, punjab cm seeks investments, punjab cm woos industrialists — Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh during a meeting with ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar in Mumbai on April 10, 2017.IANS

25 ministers, MLAs already reach Delhi

After being summoned by the panel for one-on-one meetings, 25 ministers and MLAs have already reached Delhi. Reports said that ministers namely Brahm Mohindra, OP Soni, Manpreet Badal, Tript Bajwa, Rana Sodhi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sunder Sham Arora, Charanjit Channi, Aruna Chowdhry also met the panel individually.

As per reports, such meetings will be continued for Tuesday and Wednesday also to seek the opinion of all ministers and legislators of the party to end the deadlock. All 80 MLAs of the party have been divided into three groups.

Punjab's Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu during a programme organised on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti, in Amritsar on Oct 24, 2018.IANS

Panel to meet Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha members in second round

After completing the exercise of one-on-one meetings with ministers and MLAs, the three-member panel will meet with Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from Punjab. However, the date of the second round is yet to be announced.

After meeting with all Members of Parliament (MPs), ministers and MLAs, the panel will meet with Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh before submitting its report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Capt-Sidhu war intensified

Fighting between two warring factions of Punjab, Congress-one led by Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh and another by Navjot Singh Sidhu, has been intensified during the last month. Caption's detractors in the party namely Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa, minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Charanjeet Singh Channi, Lok Sabha member Ravneet Bittu, MLA Pragat Singh, and Surjit Singh have joined Sidhu's camp.

Panel constituted on May 28 to end infighting

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had constituted a panel on May 28 to hold discussions with all MPs, ministers, and MLAs to end infighting in the Punjab Congress.

The three-member panel is headed by the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and has former Delhi MP JP Agarwal and Harish Rawat as its members.