Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 28: Putting his party in an embarrassing situation, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday resigned as the Punjab Pradesh Congress president without mentioning any specific reason for his sudden decision.
The party sources, however, maintained that Sidhu was eying for the chief minister’s chair after Captain Amarinder Singh was forced to quit last week but the party’s decision to anoint Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Sikh, to occupy the top post, upset his calculations. The last nail on the coffin was laid by the newly-appointed chief minister who apparently refused to remain his “yes-man” and appointed a few members as ministers and distributed portfolios to some ministers disliked by Sidhu.
Sulking at his Patiala residence ever since the party high command cleared the list of Channi’s new cabinet, Sidhu, who was closeted with some of his close aides, suddenly sent his resignation letter to the party national president Sonia Gandhi saying he can never compromise on Punjab’s future and the agenda of its welfare while promising that he would continue to serve the Congress.
Announcing his resignation on Twitter, Sidhu, in his letter to Sonia Gandhi, said, “The collapse of man’s character stems from the compromise corner, I can never compromise on Punjab’s future and the agenda of the welfare of Punjab. Therefore, I hereby resign as the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress.” He neither mentioned any specific reason for his quitting, nor explained what he meant by “compromise corner.”
For the Congress, it was “loose, loose situation.” The party axed its senior most leader in the state Amarinder Singh apparently because Sidhu was openly running a public campaign against him, and had also upset another senior leader Sunil Jakhar who was made to quit as the state Congress president to accommodate Sidhu and now also lost Sidhu as the party president.
While party believed that the main reason for his quitting was not making him the chief minister, one of his close aide claimed that Sidhu was upset over giving ministerial berth to MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjit Singh, who has been facing allegations of involvement in a sand mining scam, besides the appointment of senior advocate A.P.S. Deol as State’s Advocate General are the key reasons for his decision to resign.
Deol was counsel for former Punjab Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini, an accused in the Behbal Kalan police firing case of 2015, related to the Bargari sacrilege issue, which has been a political flash point in the State politics.
Sources said Sidhu had been opposing tooth and nail the allotment of the home department to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, arguing that the portfolio is traditionally with the CM. Earlier, he had put his foot down when the party considered Randhawa for the CM post.
When Randhawa’s name was proposed for the top job, Sidhu had left the hotel where he was meeting Harish Rawat, Congress general secretary and head of the selection committee, in a huff. He was learnt to have left for Delhi to hand over his resignation as PPCC chief.
However, the party had decided to compromise and name Channi as CM, after which Sidhu returned midway. Sidhu was also upset with the induction of Rana Gurjit Singh in Channi’s cabinet, with the dropping of PPCC working president Kuljit Singh Nagra, and with the Public Works department going to Vijay Inder Singla, besides opposing the appointment of Deol as Punjab AG.
He had left the oath-taking ceremony on Sunday without meeting anybody. Ever since, he was said to be sulking at his Patiala residence, where the party had sent his aide Pargat Singh to placate him. While the placating exercise continued for the entire day on Monday, on Tuesday, as portfolios were allotted, Sidhu resigned.
A source close to Sidhu said, “You find out who was backing APS Deol and you will know. What was the point of the whole exercise to change the government when you are getting former DGP Sumedh Saini’s lawyer as AG? This is unacceptable to Sidhu.”
The source said Sidhu had “made it very clear to the high command that he would not tolerate corruption. Sidhu is disappointed with the choice of Rana Gurjit Singh as minister. The party has been on the defensive since day one over his appointment. His appointment made Amarinder look better — that he had dropped him from the Cabinet after the sand mining imbroglio and now he is back when the new government was expected to be above board. Look at the appointments in six days. What is the message that we are sending? It is like the old group is back,” the source added.
Sidhu’s term remained a pretty short one – he was appointed as Punjab Congress chief on July 23 after months of feud with Amarinder Singh. He also had issues with inclusion of “tainted” former minister Rana Gurjit Singh in Punjab Cabinet now led by Charanjit Singh Channi. Six MLAs from Doaba had written a letter to Sidhu on Sunday – hours before the swearing-in of the new Punjab cabinet – that Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh be dropped from the list of ministers over his alleged involvement in corruption. The leaders also demanded that the cabinet berth may instead be filled up “by giving representation to a clean Dalit leader”. A copy of the letter was also sent to Channi, but those advices were ignored and Rana Gurjit took oath as a cabinet minister.
The feud between Singh and Sidhu started in 2019 and escalated this year. The decision to elevate Sidhu as the chief of the party’s state unit was taken by the Congress high command in a bid to end infighting ahead of the assembly elections next year, but the resignation today has proved that the political turmoil in Punjab is far from over.
Sidhu’s resignation comes on a day when captain Amarinder Singh reaching Delhi on a two-day visit to the national capital amidst speculations that he could be warming up towards the BJP. He is learnt to be scheduling a meeting with the union home minister Amit Shah, though he is also likely to meet Sonia Gandhi.
After Sidhu’s resignation, Singh was among the first to comment with “I told you so” dig at the party high command. “I told you so…he is not a stable man and not fit for the border state of Punjab,” in an apparent dig at the party leadership Singh tweeted.
The new Chief Minister Channi said he was not aware about the development involving Sidhu. Channi, whose press conference was held a short while after Sidhu’s announcement, said he would have to speak to Sidhu, whom he still “considered” Punjab Congress chief, before he commented on the development. He said the party would talk to Sidhu.
“He is the party president. If he’s upset, it will be settled,” Channi said.