Chandigarh, Dec 13 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday took a swipe at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying both these leaders seek top positions, but people ask them to do something first.
Addressing the media here, Mann said that when Sidhu was a minister in the Congress government in Punjab, he could have done something for the welfare of people if he had undertaken the responsibility of his departments.
Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Sidhu have one common problem, he claimed. “Rahul Gandhi says ‘make me prime minister, I will do something for the people’. But people ask him, first do something, then we will make you the prime minister.
“It is the same with Navjot Sidhu. He says ‘make me the CM, I will do something for Punjab’. People ask him to do something for Punjab, then they will make him the chief minister,” said Mann, taking a jibe at both the leaders.
A few days ago, Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, had said her husband would return to active politics if the Congress declares him as the party’s chief ministerial face in Punjab. She had further said they do not have money to give to any party but can transform Punjab into a “golden state”.
Her ‘Rs 500 crore for chief minister’s chair remark’ had sparked a political row, and she was later suspended by the Punjab Congress.
Former Punjab Congress chief Sidhu has not been participating in the party’s events and activities for the past many months. He did not campaign in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls either.
Asked to comment on the Sidhu couple’s claim that they are honest, Mann said he was nobody to give the certificate of honesty. However, Mann said he has not received any document which indicates their corruption. “Otherwise, I would have made it public by now,” he said.
The chief minister said that when Sidhu was the urban development minister in the previous Congress government, he could have solved the problems of uncleanliness, sewerage problems, street light problems, and road problems in the cities.
Later, Sidhu got the department of power, and it was an important portfolio, said Mann. “We (AAP government) have made electricity free. Sidhu should have undertaken the responsibility of this department and should have said that he would give 600 units of power (for free).
“Had Amarinder Singh (the then chief minister) refused it, then he (Sidhu) could have told people that he wanted to give free power, but Amarinder refused. He would have been a hero, and if Amarinder accepted it, even then he would have been a hero. It was a win-win situation,” said Mann.
Mann said Amarinder Singh had previously claimed that Sidhu did not sign files of his department for six months. “(Navjot) Sidhu sahab did not take the responsibility of his ministry and the portfolio which he had; he did not sign a file,” he alleged.
In 2019, Sidhu resigned from the then Amarinder Singh Cabinet. He had divested Sidhu of the Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments and allotted him the power and new and renewable energy portfolio. But Sidhu did not take charge of the power department.
To a question on Navjot Kaur seeking security cover, Mann took a dig at her, saying she should have thought before her utterances. “First abuse people and then come to me (for security),” he said.
Mann further said the Sidhu couple should have sought time to meet Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi earlier, which they were doing now.
Replying to a question that the Union home ministry barred any police or investigating agency from taking physical custody of gangster Anmol Bishnoi for one year, Mann said the state police wanted to bring him here for questioning as he was wanted in a case here.
“But now the home ministry has said that one cannot take his physical custody like in the case of Lawrence Bishnoi. If need arises, we will go to Tihar jail,” said Mann. PTI CHS VSD MNK MNK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.