As the polling season comes ahead, a rift in Punjab Congress seems to be growing. Punjab Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said in a press conference on Monday that Navjot Singh Sidhu is upset with him ever since he became the chief minister of Punjab.
“Sidhu has some problem. I share old relations with his family. But he has been upset with me ever since I became the home minister. If Sidhu wants the home ministry, then I will put it at his feet in a minute,” Randhawa was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The ambiguity over Congress’s CM face in Punjab and the distribution of tickets have added to the ongoing internal chasm within the Punjab Congress. The deputy CMs statement comes amid growing discontent over Sidhu interfering anywhere and everywhere and affecting the decision making to his advantage.
Cabinet ministers go public over Sidhu’s interference
Targeting Navjot Singh Sidhu, cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh spoke to Times of India saying “It has been a tradition with the Congress to announce the CM face at the end and the party leadership knows whom to project. It will do at an appropriate time and not at someone’s behest. Sidhu cannot demand that he be made the CM face.”
Commenting on Sidhu’s “Punjab Model”, cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said, “It has always been Congress Model and Congress ideology If someone has an individual opinion, he should discuss it on the party platform. We are soldiers of the party first. Sidhu will have to learn the culture of the Congress party. When it is collective leadership, then the decision on party candidates should also be collective.”
Punjab Advocate General accuses Sidhu of obstructing government functioning
APS Deol, the Advocate General of Punjab, had previously accused Navjot Singh Sidhu of attempting to obstruct the functioning of the state government and the office of the Advocate General. He said in a statement, “His repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the state government to ensure justice in the Drugs matter and the Sacrilege cases. Shri Navjot Singh Sidhu is spreading misinformation to gain political advantage over his political colleagues.”
Punjab has been in a state of chaos ever since Sidhu was made the chief of the Punjab Congress. Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as Chief Minister alleging that he had been humiliated by the party and dubbed Navjot Singh Sidhu as a national security threat. Later, Amarinder Singh floated his own political party for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls.
