Rinku gives cold shoulder to Sidhu

BOTH THE LEADERS CAME FACETOFACE AT A MEETING IN CHANDIGARH ON THURSDAY, BUT CHOSE NOT TO INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER

A day after Jalandhar (west) MLA Sushil Rinku gave a miss to the meeting with local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, both the leaders came face-to-face in a meeting in Chandigarh on Thursday, but chose not to interact with each other.

Rural development minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa had called them to seek suggestions on the upcoming policy on illegal colonies, in which all MLAs were open to participate.

Rinku and Jalandhar (cantonment) MLA Pargat Singh attended the meeting which also saw the presence of Navjot Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Balbir Singh Sidhu. Rinku keeping the cold war alive, neither spoke to Sidhu nor gave any suggestion on the upcoming policy for which the meeting was organised.

“Rinku sat for 20-25 minutes in the meeting but did not utter even a single word,” said a senior leader privy to the meeting.

“Moreover, Rinku did not even attend the Navjot Sidhu’s meeting on policy on illegal buildings, which was held after Bajwa’s meeting,” he added.

Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, accompanied by three MLAs, including Pargat Singh (cantonment), Avtar Henry Junior (north) and Rajinder Beri (central), and mayor Jagdish Raja had on Wednesday met Sidhu to discuss the issues erupted after his move to crack the whip on illegal colonies in Jalandhar created a controversy.

The major embarrassment came a day after Sidhu’s action, when Rinku did not let the Jalandhar MC to conduct the demolition drive at an illegal colony near Deol Nagar, Kala Sangha road here. Rinku is also said to be annoyed over the Sidhu’s ‘chor’ (thief) remark.

However, in the meeting with Bajwa, Pargat Singh suggested that there should not be any loose end left in the policy.

Rinku, meanwhile, said he wanted to raise concerns regarding the establishment of new colonies. “But the meeting was regarding policy on old illegal colonies. That’s why I didn’t give any suggestion,” he added.