- Atul Sangar
- Editor, PRESS24 NEWS Punjabi
image source, NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU/FACEBOOK
The Congress high command has made cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party chief in Punjab.
In Punjab, the Congress took this decision despite Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s dislike for Sidhu. More recently, Amarinder Singh had said that he would not meet Sidhu until he apologized to him for his ‘derogatory tweets’.
Some time ago, amidst such strong differences between the two leaders, the Congress high command handed over an 18-point ‘to do list’ to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh about eight months before the assembly elections in the state.
This was seen as a public questioning of Amarinder Singh and his way of running the party.
Capt Amarinder Singh’s loyal leaders admit behind the scenes that they feel humiliated by the Congress’s move. This is the reason that before the assembly elections, the efforts made by the central leadership to reconcile both the opposing camps and change the image of the party may prove to be ineffective in the end.
image source, NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU/FACEBOOK
Brought in Congress without Captain Amarinder’s consenta Sidhu had gone
Navjot Singh Sidhu started his political career with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the year 2004, when he was elected MP from Amritsar.
In 2014, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was contested from Amritsar and Sidhu was sent to the Rajya Sabha. In the year 2016, he broke away from the BJP.
Within a few months, he joined the Congress. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had an important role in bringing him to the Congress before the assembly elections in 2017.
Even at that time, Captain Amarinder Singh did not agree with this decision. Then the Congress under the leadership of Amarinder Singh registered a landslide victory in Punjab by securing 77 seats out of 117.
image source, ANI
Sidhu hugging General Qamar Bajwa
Sidhu going to Pakistan, hugging Bajwa and controversy
After the victory of the Congress, Sidhu got a place in Captain Amarinder’s cabinet as a minister, but in the year 2018, when Sidhu accepted the invitation of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and reached Pakistan to attend his swearing-in ceremony, Amarinder Singh and Tension arose between them.
During this, when there was widespread criticism of Sidhu hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Captain Amarinder Singh also joined the critics.
When the tension between the two leaders started increasing, Sidhu resigned from the cabinet.
But in the midst of all this, Sidhu was seen by almost all sections of Punjabi Sikhs as the person who brought the message of peace in India-Pakistan, who brought the good news of Pakistan’s proposal to open the Kartarpur Corridor.
The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor made it possible for Indian Sikhs to reach the Kartarpur Gurdwara associated with Guru Nanak.
image source, Twitter
Capt Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu
First silence then fierce attack
After resigning from the cabinet, Sidhu remained silent for several months, but then he started attacking the Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh on many issues.
Through his poems and similes, he started accusing Captain Amarinder Singh of reneging on the promises made to the people of Punjab.
As a result, senior Congress leader and state in-charge Harish Rawat handed over an 18-point ‘to do’ list to Captain Amarinder Singh.
In his video, Sidhu is seen asking the Punjab government to fulfill the promise of minimum support price to the farmers.
Apart from this, he has also been raising his voice for not getting justice in the 2015 Bargadi firing case. At that time, Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal were leading Punjab.
Along with this, Sidhu has also been raising the issue of non-availability of Captain Amarinder Singh, mining mafia and transport mafia from time to time.
At the same time, the loyal companions of Captain Amarinder Singh have been defending the government. He cites special investigations in the Bargadi firing case, state government filing cases against drug dealers and smugglers, and job fairs to fulfill job promises.
But the color of his claims faded when the Congress leadership itself handed over an 18-point note asking the Amarinder government to fulfill the promises.
image source, NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU/FACEBOOK
Will there be reconciliation or will the situation worsen?
Sidhu has never received much support from Congress MLAs, but is often referred to as a ‘single player’.
However, many MLAs changed their tone when they saw that there was a positive change in the attitude of the central leadership towards Sidhu.
When the issue of giving jobs to sons of two MLAs was raised in the recent cabinet meeting, the ministers once considered loyal to Captain Amarinder – Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Sukh Sakaria also strongly opposed it.
image source, RAVEEN THUKRAL/TWITTER
At the same time, Charanjit Singh Channi, Ravneet Singh Bittu and former Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa have been longtime critics of the Amarinder government.
Sidhu has been meeting several MLAs for the past few days. Several ministers and MLAs have also been organizing meetings for Sidhu for the past few days.
That is, it is clear that instead of reconciling the opposing camps before the assembly elections, the situation in Punjab may be more difficult for the Congress.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency/news feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.
