Trouble brewing in Punjab after MLAs seek CM Amarinder’s replacement

TIL Desk/National/Chandigarh/ Over 50 Congress legislators from Punjab have written to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking that Amarinder Singh be replaced as chief minister, highly placed party sources said on Saturday ahead of a crucial meeting of the Congress Legislative Party in Chandigarh.

As crisis intensifies once again in the Punjab unit of the party, Amarinder Singh is also learnt to have talked to Gandhi and expressed his anguish over his repeated “humiliation”. There was no official confirmation about the chief minister calling Gandhi.

Sources said the current crisis is “serious” with so many MLAs seeking the chief minister’s replacement just a few months ahead of assembly elections in Punjab. The MLAs in their letter to Gandhi sought the convening of the CLP meeting, being held at 5 pm on Friday at the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh. The high command has deputed senior party leaders Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary as central observers.

AICC general secretary in-charge for Punjab affairs of the party Harish Rawat will also be present during the meeting. Sources said anything could happen at today’s CLP meeting considering the MLAs’ demand and the urgency of the meeting. If the MLAs insist on their demand, the change might happen at the CLP meeting itself, they said.