As the political temperature rises on the issue of new farm laws, Congress leader and former party chairman Rahul Gandhi will launch a three-day protest march with 3,000 Moga tractors on Sunday.
However, there is no clarity on the involvement of Navjot Singh Sidhu from the Amritsar East MLA party. Sidhu has been among the star election activists in Congress in the past, but he is the prime minister’s black beast, Captain Amarinder Singh. Sidhu has not shared the stage with Amarinder for over a year.
Sidhu’s strained relationship with Amarinder was made public after the former spoke of a ‘friendly match’ at a Lok Sabha election rally in Bathinda on May 17, 2019, referring to the alleged ‘inaction’ of the Amarinder-led government. against those guilty of incidents of sacrilege. Sidhu left the state cabinet in June last year after his portfolio was switched from local bodies to power.
Prisons and Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is overseeing Rahul’s visit, told HT on Saturday that a large gathering was expected at the Badhni Kalan grain market in Moga around 11am on Sunday.
With AICC general secretary Harish Rawat meeting Sidhu in Amritsar on Thursday, it was believed that the cricketer-turned-politician will be seen on Rahul’s political show.
“All India Congressional Committee (AICC) KC Venugopalan Secretaries General Randeep Surjewala, newly appointed Punjab head Harish Rawat and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will attend the tractor rally. The CM and the chairman of the state party Sunil Jakhar will be there. There is no official news that Sidhu will arrive in Moga tomorrow, ”Randhawa said.
It will be the first political event since March 22, when the confinement was imposed for the first time after the covid-19 outbreak, to have official sanction for the gathering of a large number of people.
The congressional protest has political significance, as Punjab has been reeling under organized protests by the 31 farmer associations and farmworker unions against the BJP and its longtime ally, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), over the new laws agricultural.
SAD, the traditional political enemy of Congress, has already registered its political presence by organizing a state rally on October 1.
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