Just minutes ahead of the crucial Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh reached the Governor’s house and submitted his and his council of ministers’ resignations. The minute-by-minute changing political development began at about 11.42 pm on Friday when Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat tweeted about the decision to hold an urgent CLP meeting on Saturday. Almost 10 minutes later, state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu directed all the MLAs to be present at the CLP meeting. The announcement by Rawat was seen as an indication from the high command to appoint the new incumbent under whose helm the party will go to the Assembly polls, slated in March 2022.

Punjab Congress MLAs on Saturday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to pick a new CLP leader, who will be the next chief minister of the state. A resolution to this effect was passed unanimously in a meeting of the CLP here. Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, current state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu and minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are frontrunners for the post of the CLP leader, said sources.