Chandigarh, November 6: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has denied deferment of any meeting with Congress MPs, including Partap Singh Bajwa, saying no such meeting was scheduled in the first place.
The Chief Minister rubbished reports that he had postponed a meeting of MPs scheduled for Monday, thus depriving Bajwa a forum to air his so-called grievances.
There was no question of planning such a meeting on Monday as the Himachal Pradesh campaign programme for the day had already been finalised by the AICC, said Captain Amarinder, dubbing the reports as speculative and baseless.
In a statement issued here, Captain Amarinder said while party Members of Parliament, including Bajwa, were welcome to meet him any time, it was not his domain to convene any meeting to set their agenda ahead of parliamentary session. That was the prerogative of the party leaders, he added.
Categorically rejecting any suggestion to the contrary, the Chief Minister expressed surprised that such rumours were being spread and said he was clueless about the reason for the same. It was only from the media that he had read and heard about Bajwa’s so-called grievances, said Captain Amarinder, adding that the MP himself had not once approached him with any complaint on any count.
It appeared, therefore, that the reports of Bajwa’s alleged grievances were unsubstantiated and, on the face of it, seemed to be the creation of media imagination, said the Chief Minister.
Every Congress member had the right to air his/her grievances in the party forum, and Bajwa was also free to take up any issue troubling him with the Congress leadership, the Chief Minister added. Captain Amarinder reiterated that he had no clue about the reasons for Bajwa’s perceived unhappiness with the state government, as had been reported by a section of the media.
In a large party like the Congress, one could not rule out some discontent on some issues here or there but the same could easily be resolved through intra-party dialogue and discussion, said Captain Amarinder, and added that if any MP, MLA or worker had any reason to feel disgruntled, they should not hesitate to raise it within the party forum.
