No move to bring AAP MP Mann into Congress: Punjab CM

Chandigarh, June 12 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said there was no move to bring AAP Member of Parliament (MP) Bhagwant Mann into the party.

Clarifying on Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu's suggestion of bringing Mann into the Punjab Congress, Singh urged all party leaders to refrain from making such public statements.

It was the prerogative of the party high command to take any decision on the induction of leaders from other parties into the Congress fold, said the Chief Minister, adding that no party MP or MLA or other leaders should come out with public statements in this regard.

"If they have any opinion on any such matter, they should share their suggestions in party forums," said Singh in a statement.

He said the party platform was the right place for discussing opinions related to party issues.

Expressing surprise at Bittu's reported media statement that AAP's Sangrur MP Mann should be inducted into the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Singh said the Ludhiana MP should have come with his views either to the party general secretary or the state president or to him.

As a democratic organisation, the Congress could have discussed Bittu's opinion internally, with the final decision resting with the high command, said the Chief Minister.

Bittu is a senior Congress leader and well aware of the systems and processes that need to be followed in such cases, he added.