Mohali MC turmoil: Punjab Congress president Raja Warring meets Rishav Jain

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, June 5

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today visited the house of former Deputy Mayor Rishav Jain and met some Congress councillors, sparking off speculations.

With former Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and his brother Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu leaving the Congress to join the BJP yesterday, political circles in Mohali are abuzz with the new permutations and combinations in the 50-member House.

Sources said an informal meeting of Congress councillors was held at the house of the former Deputy Mayor today in which only eight of the 37 Congress councillors were present. A senior Congress leader said senior councillors did not attend the meeting.

“It does not mean that they are leaving the party. Most of the councillors are adopting a wait-and-watch policy. From my observation, most Congress councillors want to remain neutral and do not want to create hurdles in the working of the House. They are not inclined to join the BJP, this is certain,” said Bedi, who himself did not attend the meeting.

“I could not go to the meeting, but I am with the party, as of now. Let us see what happens in the coming days,” he said.

Mayor Sidhu had announced that all 37 Congress councillors would join the BJP soon. However, that appears unlikely with several senior leaders, including Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi, openly refusing to cross the line as of now.

Sidhu brothers, reportedly, held negotiations with Senior Deputy Mayor Amrik Singh Sohal. Interestingly, former Health Minister Sidhu also held a meeting with his loyalists when Warring was meeting Congress councillors.

Another Congress councillor, a Balbir Sidhu loyalist, said, “Nothing has been decided yet. The councillors will sit and deliberate on how we can contribute to the working of the House.”

While senior councillors may be making up their mind on which camp to join, the greenhorns face a dilemma of either joining forces with a political heavyweight or maintaining status quo.

As of now, AAP appears to be the potential benefiary of the whole affair in which the Congress is likely to take a dent and the BJP likely to emerge as a new player in the civic body.