Congress defuses crisis following Sidhu’s remark

CHANDIGARH:: The Congress high command on Monday stepped in to resolve the row over “Rahul my Captain” remark of Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu by asking both Sidhu and loyalists of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to tone down the rhetoric. Sidhu had made the remark at a press conference at Hyderabad while explaining his visit to Pakistan for groundbreaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor despite being advised by the CM to reconsider his decision.

Sidhu tried to play down the controversy by saying he will clear the air with the CM. But he remained defiant when asked if he would tender an apology or retract his statement. “I have said nothing wrong. So there is no question of retracting the statement or tendering an apology. But I love the CM and respect him as a father-figure. So it is a family matter and I will sort it out myself, one-to-one, when I meet him.”

Back home, the ministers who were demanding that Sidhu be booted out of the cabinet, said the issue had been resolved. State rural development minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa, who was first to gun for Sidhu, said, “When a son has said he will resolve the matter with his father, who are we to come between a father and son? All’s well that ends well.”

Three other ministers too had demanded that the minister resign while four ministers had targeted Sidhu and asked him to apologise, but none raised the issue at Monday’s cabinet meeting. “The matter was not discussed at the meeting as there were more important issues . Also, we could have spoken on it only if Sidhu was present,” sports minister Rana Sodhi said.