Sidhu takes over as Punjab Congress chief in presence of Amarinder Singh

NAVJOT Singh Sidhu on Friday (23) took over as the new chief of the Punjab unit of the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party. He took over the reins from Sunil Jakhar at an event in Chandigarh which was also attended by the state’s chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh.

Sidhu’s appointment as the chief of the Punjab Congress came in the wake of an intense political drama. He had been at loggerheads with Singh over the past few years and of late, both the leaders met the party high command in New Delhi and eventually it was Sidhu who had the ‘last laugh’.

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On Friday, Singh said he will work together with Sidhu for the welfare of the state which goes to assembly elections early next year. The Congress is in power in a few states in the country and one of them is Punjab. The party is determined to bury the internal differences ahead of the elections in order to continue in power. It is not going to be easy for the grand-old party as opponents like the Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will throw steep challenges at it.

Sulking Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu meets Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Sidhu, a former cricketer and member of the BJP who joined the Congress in 2017, took charge of the state Congress along with four working presidents from various social and regional backgrounds. The likes of Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra are to assist Sidhu in the run-up to the 2022 elections.

The 57-year-old state assembly member from Amritsar (east) wrote a letter to Singh on Thursday (22) requesting him to come for his inauguration. He called the chief minister the “eldest of the Punjab Congress family” and said that he had “no personal agenda”.

Singh, who had earlier refused to meet Sidhu citing his “derogatory” tweets against him, subsequently softened his stand and invited the Congress members of the assembly for tea at the Punjab Bhavan ahead of Sidhu’s inauguration as the party headquarters in Chandigarh.

The event was attended by Congress general secretary Harish Rawat, who is also the in-charge of the Punjab affairs at the All India Congress Committee. Former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, senior party leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Lal Singh were also present.

In his speech, Sidhu said he has never hankered for posts and the purpose of his presidency was to resolve people’s issues.