- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
POLITICS in the northern Indian state of Punjab continued to witness drama as Navjot Singh Sidhu, a cricketer-turned-politician who was made the state chief of the ruling Indian National Congress in July, stepped down from the post on Tuesday (28).
The sudden development took place just over a week after Captain Amarinder Singh quit the post of the chief minister of Punjab claiming he was humiliated. He was recently replaced by Charanjt Singh Channi, who became the state’s first Dalit chief minister. Sidhu was seen around Channi as he took the centrestage. Punjab is scheduled to go to elections early next year and is one of the few states in the country that the Congress rules at the moment.
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Hours after Sidhu quit, Punjab cabinet minister Razia Sultana also resigned saying she made the move “in solidarity with Navjot Singh Sidhu”.
Sultana stepped down hours after she was given water supply and sanitation, social security, women and child development and other departments in the new government of Channi.
Sultana’s husband Mohammed Mustafa Became Sidhu’s chief strategic adviser after the latter took over as the chief of Punjab Congress in July.
The 57-year-old Sidhu, who joined the Congress in 2017 after quitting prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, wrote his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in which he said, “The collapse of a man’s character stems from the compromise corner. I can never compromise on Punjab’s future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab. Therefore, I hereby resign as the President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. I will continue to serve the Congress.”
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) September 28, 2021
He also posted the same on social media.
The resignation came as a big shocker for the Congress leadership since the Gandhis were warned about appointing Sidhu as the chief of Punjab Congress. It was Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who had backed him against all odds.
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Both Sonia and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi were yet to reach New Delhi from Shimla in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh.
Sidhu’s resignation came at a time when Punjab’s new chief minister, seen to be close to the former, had been making changes to the state cabinet. Sources said Sidhu was not happy with the appointments and thought they were against his pronouncements about fighting corruption. His usage of the word “compromise” more than once in his resignation letter could be an indication that he was upset with the choices of the cabinet members.
Sidhu’s resignation also coincides with Singh’s visit to New Delhi on Tuesday. Although it was called a “personal” one, speculation was rife over a possible meeting between the Captain and the BJP leadership.
Captain, who is known to have a rocky relationship with Sidhu and said he would never accept the latter as the chief minister of Punjab, even saying that it would put the national security under threat, took a dig at the former cricketer over his resignation saying he is not a stable man.
