I’ve conveyed to the high command that if you don’t allow me to take decisions, my actions can be destructive as well.
NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU, Punjab Congress chief
AMRITSAR: After Harish Rawat, the AICC in-charge of Punjab affairs, said that the party would contest the 2022 elections under the leadership of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said that if he was not allowed to take decisions, he would not spare anyone.
Addressing a gathering of traders and businessmen, Sidhu, who is the Amritsar East MLA, said on Thursday night: “Aj v mai high command nu iko gal keh k ayan, k je mai es Punjab Model de utte, ehna lokan dian asan te khra utrun, mai agle 20 saal Congress nu rajniti chon jan ni daun. Lekin je tusi mainu nirnai ni lain devonge, ta fer mai itt naal vi itt kharkaun, ta fer mai itt vi naal itt kharkaun. (I’ve conveyed to the high command that if I meet public expectations through the Punjab model, I’ll not let the Congress lose ground in politics for 20 years. But if you don’t allow me to take decisions, my actions can be destructive as well).”
He said, “Nirnai lain to bina, darshani ghora banan da koi fayda nahi (Without having the right to decide, being a mere showpiece is useless).”
His statement came after Rawat asked him to remove his two advisers, Malwinder Singh Mali and Dr Pyare Lal Garg, over their recent remarks that invited criticism from the rival parties and Congress leaders.
Capt Amarinder’s camp has been cornering Sidhu over these remarks. On Thursday, the chief minister put up a show of strength by hosting a dinner meeting of 58 MLAs and eight MPs. Sidhu went on to launch an indirect attack on Capt Amarinder and said, “I neither take an oath nor do I promise, but I commit.”
He has been critical of the chief minister for not delivering on the promises made in the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections by taking an oath on the ‘gutka (handy book of gurbani)’ to bring the culprits of the 2015 Bargari sacrilege and police firing incidents to justice and eradicating drugs from Punjab. “I have requested the CM to cancel PPAs (power purchase agreements) and these can be done. I know the problem and I know the solution. If PPAs are cancelled, I guarantee the Congress will come back to power,” he added.
Rawat downplays Sidhu’s remarks
Harish Rawat, who is Punjab affairs in-charge at the All India Congress Committee (AICC), appeared to downplay Sidhu’s remarks.
In Delhi, he said state presidents are free to take decisions within the party’s constitution and in accordance with its position. “I will see the context in which Navjot Singh Sidhu made these remarks. Sidhu is the respected chief of the Punjab unit. Who else has the power to take decisions if not the state presidents?” he said.