STF report in court, mustn't raise issue at public forum: CM Charanjit Singh Channi

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 2

A day after Punjab CM Charanjit Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu were summoned to Delhi by senior party leaders and told to work as a team, little seems to have changed. With Sidhu adamant on his demand that the STF report on drug trafficking be made public, Channi, while addressing the media here on Thursday, refused to comment, saying this could have a bearing on the matter that was in the court.

Chinks in Cong

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu has been demanding that drug report be made public

On Sidhu’s Pb model...

I’m implementing pro-people decisions. One day Sidhu sahib will also have faith in decisions being made by me. CS Channi

Channi, who was among those who had accused Capt Amarinder Singh of sitting on the STF report, without naming Sidhu, said, “Leaders are making statements... The ‘sensitive’ issue must not be raised at a public forum.” At the same time, he denied any differences with the PPCC chief, saying: “The government must toe the party line.” At the Delhi meeting, the CM is learnt to have raised objections to Sidhu criticising his own government. Sources said the crux of the problem was the party choosing not to declare its CM face in the run-up to the Punjab elections in order to cash in on Channi’s vote bank as well as Sidhu’s popularity. While removing Capt Amarinder Singh as CM, party leaders were told Sidhu would be the CM candidate for the 2022 elections. But with Channi taking over, political equations have changed drastically.

“Taking action against the big fish and making the drug report public were the key issues when Captain was removed. We can’t go slow on these issues now,” observed a senior Congress leader.