3 Captains, 4 Gandhis and 3 Modis: Sidhu in verbal duel

Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is generally associated with on screen buffoonery, so very few people take him or his ‘Sidhuisms’ too seriously.

But his rather loaded comment -‘My captain is Rahul Gandhi, who is also his [Amarinder Singh’s] captain. Wherever I went, it was with his approval’ – surely has the BJP on the offensive. The party has concluded that Sidhu is trying to upstage Amarinder Singh and that this is symptomatic of a deeper malaise within the faction ridden Punjab Congress.

The latest to join the chorus on Sunday was External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who, when asked about the controversy, said she would not be able to comment on the issue as it was a major tussle between "the three captains in the Congress party." The first captain Swaraj referred to is the Punjab chief minister himself, known as Captain Amarinder Singh. The second is Sidhu, who chose to visit Pakistan despite Singh's opposition. The third is Rahul Gandhi, who Sidhu referred to as the captain of the party.

The remark was too enticing for Sidhu person to let it go. While addressing a rally in Kota, he said, "Congress gave us four Gandhis -- Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The BJP gave us three Modis -- Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and the one sitting in Ambani's lap -Narendra Modi." As is known, Nirav Modi is the fugitive diamond merchant and Lalit Modi the absconding cricket czar. Both have been accused of misappropriating government funds and sneaking out of the country to avert arrest.

The reference to PM Modi would be apparent to even a political greenhorn: he has been accused by the Opposition of favouring Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence in the Rafale deal.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi too had unwittingly waded into the war of words, saying Imran Khan had bowled a "googly" to ensure Indian government's presence at the ground-breaking ceremony of the landmark Kartarpur Corridor. Qureshi's remark invited a stinging jibe from Sushma Swaraj who said the googly remark had "exposed" Qureshi and that Pakistan had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

But Qureshi is not the one to be pushed to the wall. He, on Sunday, tweeted: "Dragging my comment towards 'Sikh sentiments' is a deliberate attempt to misrepresent and mislead. What I said was strictly with reference to bilateral interaction with the Indian government. We have deep respect for Sikh sentiments and no amount of distortions or controversies would change it." "In deference to the long-standing desires of our Sikh brethren, we decided to open the Kartarpur corridor. We have taken this historic initiative in good faith and will carry it forward in good faith," he added.