No cause for discontent: Sidhu fine with portfolio

A day after being sworn in as minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu, on Friday, said if the Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, had asked him to serve as an MLA, he would have done so. Allotted portfolios of Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Archives and Museums, the cricketerturned-politician also said he will continue doing his television show. "There were a lot of discussions on Sidhu will become this and that... I am thankful to the people for their wishes and intentions. But I always kept away from this," he told reporters after assuming office on Friday.

On speculation about him being made the Deputy Chief Minister, Sidhu said, "Had the Captain (Amarinder) asked me to serve by being an MLA, I would have done that too." "I am happy with anything and everything that Captain sahib, Rahul ji and Priyanka ji think and deem fit for me. I have come to put the state on the right track and not fufill any private interest," he asserted.

Speculation was rife that Sidhu would be made Deputy Chief Minister in the present dispensation. However, he featured second on the list of nine ministers who were sworn in on Thursday. The former BJP MP said he had been offered by the BJP to contest elections from Kurukshetra, Chandigarh and West Delhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but a Rajya Sabha seat did not matter to him as it forced him to stay away from his roots. He emphasised that the new Congress government in Punjab would have to work with a positive intent for the first six months.

“H ad Amarinder asked me to serve as MLA, would have done so” –NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU