Punjab crisis heats up, Sidhu questions key Cabinet picks
My first priority is to fight for justice... I will fight for truth till my last breath. NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU, Former Cong Punjab chief
CHANDIGARH: A day after his dramatic resignation as Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu kept his party on tenterhooks on Wednesday, putting out a video to raise questions over key appointments by chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and rebuffing overtures by top leaders.
Channi, who is battling his first major political crisis just 10 days after taking over as the CM, offered to sit down and iron out differences. But Sidhu struck a defiant note in his video message, questioning the selection of the advocate general, director general of police and “tainted leaders” in the cabinet.
Sidhu said he was ready to make any sacrifice but would always stand by his principles. “My first priority is to fight for justice that people have been waiting for...“i will fight for truth till my last breath,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-politician’s abrupt resignation on Tuesday, barely 72 days after he was appointed the state unit chief, pushed the Congress into a fresh crisis in poll-bound Punjab before it could recover from months of turmoil due to a bitter tussle between Sidhu and his bête noire, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The resignation appeared to take the party by surprise and prompted Singh to say, “I told you so”. But the Congress indicated that it will continue to talk to Sidhu. “Whoever is party president is head of the family. I told him (Sidhu) the party is supreme and the government follows its ideology. I spoke to him over the phone and told him to come, sit and talk to resolve issues,’ Channi said after the cabinet meeting, terming the response as “affirmative”.
However, there was no indication when the two leaders would meet.
Punjab cabinet ministers Pargat Singh and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring were tasked by Channi to convince Sidhu. Both ministers met the former cricketer at his Patiala residence in the morning.
“There are definitely some issues. We went to talk to him. I am sure these will be sorted out,” said Pargat, a close associate of Sidhu. Two state unit working presidents and half-a-dozen legislators also met him.
But Sidhu appeared defiant in his four-and-a-half minute video.
In an apparent reference to the 2015 sacrilege incidents in Faridkot, Sidhu said those who gave clean chits to the Badals six years ago were given the responsibility of delivering justice. Current, DGP Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota led a special investigation team formed in 2015 by the then Akali government to probe the case.
Sidhu also apparently questioned the appointment of APS Deol as the new advocate general of Punjab. “My soul jitters when I see those who secured blanket bails, they are advocate general. What is the agenda here?” he asked. Deol was a counsel for former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and represented him in cases related to police firing on Sikhs protesting against the sacrilege cases.
The Congress leader said a system that included “tainted” leaders and officials, was being brought back after being dismantled, adding that he would oppose it. His remark is being viewed as an oblique reference to Rana Gurjit Singh’s return to the state cabinet. Rana Gurjit Singh resigned as minister in January 2018 in connection with the sand mine auction controversy.
On Tuesday, some party leaders had said Sidhu was miffed at not getting his way in the cabinet appointments and other key official picks. But Channi struck a conciliatory note on Wednesday, saying that appointments were based on feedback and could be changed. “If there is a feeling that someone has to be changed, I have no objection, no ego.”
The Congress high command, which earlier backed Sidhu, has not intervened till now and party leaders in the state are divided.
Cabinet minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli said these situations hurt ahead of polls. “He (Sidhu) is a strong leader and should work to strengthen the party.”
Ferozepur City MLA Parminder Singh Pinky also voiced his concern, whereas Amritsar South legislator Inderbir Singh Bolaria felt that when such a senior leader had raised all these issues, the high command should take note and address them.