Punjab
Punjab: Congress tells Sidhu to sack his advisers following controversial remarks and fresh rebellion against Amrinder Singh
Chandigarh:The Congress has issued an ultimatum to new Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to dismiss his advisers after a fresh wave of opposition emerged against Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh in the Punjab unit of the party
Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat told NDTV that Sidhu must dismiss his advisers and if he fails to do so, the party will, a reaction elicited by the comments from Sidhu's advisers which the Punjab chief minister called out as "atrocious and ill-conceived".
A controversy erupted over the comments of Pyare Lal Garg and Malwinder Mali, who joined Sidhu's team, recently.
In a Facebook post Mali went on to say that both India and Pakistan were illegal occupants in Kashmir, forcing the Congress leadership to issue the warning.
"It is not this or that camp who objected (to those statements). The whole party and the state have objections too. The party has a line on Jammu and Kashmir -- that it is a part of India," Harish Rawat , the Congress in-charge of Punjab, told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Distancing Congress from the comments, Harish Rawat said: "These advisers were not appointed by the party. We have asked Sidhu to dismiss them. If Sidhu does not do that, I will. We do not want people who embarrass the party."
Rawat dodged the question when asked if Captain Amrinder Singh will be party's chief ministerial candidate in the assembly elections next year.
"We cannot repeat the same thing," he said.
"Every party has a set procedure. We will follow that. When the new legislature of the party sits (after the election in case of a victory) then they will take a decision," he said.
He played down the rebellion against Singh and said the leaders whom he met on Wednesday afternoon did not seek the Chief Minister's removal.
He claimed that the issues raised by them were local issues, adding that there was no question of the differences lingering till the elections.
Rawat said that the MLAs have agreed to follow the party's central leadership's decisions.
"These things happen in any dynamic party. We will settle this. We have a procedure," he told NDTV.
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