My journey just began, says a confident Sidhu after 'beating' Amarinder Singh

CRICKETER-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu looked a confident man on Monday (19), a day after the high command of the Indian National Congress appointed him as the new president of the party’s chapter in the northern Indian state of Punjab. “My journey has just begun,” he said. The development also comes with the next assembly elections in Punjab due in less than a year.

The development came after an intense polarisation between Sidhu and Captain Amarinder Singh, the chief minister of the state. Both leaders were seen meeting the central leadership in New Delhi over the past few weeks and eventually party president Sonia Gandhi appointed Sidhu as the new party president for Punjab, overriding strenuous objections from Singh and other leaders of the party.

Supporters of Navjot Singh Sidhu celebrate after his appointment as Punjab Congress Party President at his residence on the outskirts of Amritsar on July 19, 2021. (Photo by NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images)

Sidhu, who joined the Congress in 2017, thanked the party leadership for making him the head of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) and said he would work with every “member of the Cong family” to fulfil the “Jittega Punjab” (Punjab will will) mission and strengthen its organisation in the state.

“Today, to work further for the same dream and strengthen the invincible fort of the Congress in Punjab. I am grateful to Hon'ble Congress president Sonia Gandhi, RahulGandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for bestowing their faith in me and giving me this pivotal responsibility," Sidhu, 57, said on Twitter.

“Will work along every member of Congress family in Punjab to fulfil the mission of ‘JittegaPunjab’ as a humble Congress worker to give power of the people back to the people through the Punjab model and the high command's 18-point agenda ... My journey has just begun,” he said in another tweet.

The former India cricketer also shared a picture of his father with India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. “To share prosperity, privilege and freedom not just among a few but among all, My father a Congress worker left a royal household and joined the freedom struggle, was sentenced to death for his patriotic work reprieved by the King's Amnesty became DCC President, MLA, MLC and advocate general,” Sidhu added in another Twitter post.

Sidhu, a former state minister, replaced Sunil Jakhar as the chief of the PPCC and the latter said there was no issue whatsoever in the party over Sidhu’s appointment.

“Captain Amrinder Singh has a huge stature and a big heart. There are no issues … the only issues that are there are regarding Punjab. Everything will be done in time,” he said, adding, “We will work together for the elections in the state next year.”

In Amritsar, which Sidhu represents (east) in the Punjab assembly, several Congress workers and supporters were seen beating drums and celebrating the leader’s elevation.

The party also appointed four working presidents to assist the new state chief in the run-up to the 2022 polls. They are Sanghat Singh Gilzian, Pawan Goel, Sukhwinder Singh Danny and Kuljit Singh Nagara, who represent different regions and castes and are known to be loyalists to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Sidhu now has a challenge of uniting the factionalism-hit party and secure power in the state in the upcoming elections before the national elections of 2024.