Why Amarinder Singh rushed to rope in rebel MLAs ahead of his meeting with Congress high command

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh welcomed three opposition MLAs into the Congress fold on Thursday as he left for a high-level meeting in Delhi called by the party high command to quell infighting in Punjab Congress.

Just before Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh flew for Delhi on Thursday, he posed for a photo at the helipad in Chandigarh with his former Pradesh Congress Committee colleague MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and two rebel AAP MLAs. The move comes in the middle of a peace-making meeting convened by the party high command. Congress sources say Captain Amarinder Singh has thrown a challenge at the high command that is exploring a change of guard in Punjab as one of the options to quell infighting. "It is more than a mere show of strength as Captain Amarinder Singh will not take it lying down. He has signalled that he may split the party and float his own regional outfit," said a senior Congress leader requesting anonymity.