Sidhu resumes tirade over ‘tainted’ leaders and top appointments in Punjab
State Congress working president among visitors to his residence
Breaking his silence a day after abruptly resigning as the Punjab Congress chief, Navot Singh Sidhu yesterday raised questions over the appointments of the director general of police, advocate general and “tainted” leaders.
Plunging the Congress into a fresh crisis months ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Sidhu put in his papers on Tuesday shortly after the allocation of portfolios to the members of the new state Cabinet led by Charanjit Singh Channi.
Several party leaders, including ministers Pargat Singh and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, MLA Inderbir Singh Bolaria and Punjab Congress working president Pawan Goel, went to Sidhu’s residence in Patiala yesterday to meet him.
Sacrilege
In an over four-minute video clip shared on his Twitter handle, Sidhu said: “My fight has been on issues and a pro-Punjab agenda, for which I have stood for a long time.”
In an apparent reference to the 2015 desecration of Guru Granth Sahib incidents in Faridkot, he said his first priority was to fight for justice the people have been eagerly waiting for. “I see those who had given clean chits to the Badals six years ago. have been given the responsibility of delivering justice.”
IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who has been given additional charge as director general of Punjab Police, was the head of a special investigation team formed in 2015 by the then Akali government to probe the sacrilege incidents.
A system which included ‘tainted’ leaders and officials is being brought back after being dismantled, he said, adding, “I oppose it.” He was obliquely referring to the induction of Rana Gurjit Singh, who quit the Amarinder ministry over graft charges, as a minister.