Chandigarh: Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has not been released from prison, ending a month-long speculation that he along with 50 other jail inmates would be freed on the eve of Republic Day.
The cricketer-turned-politician is currently lodged in Patiala central jail since May last year and is serving a one-year jail term following the Supreme Court order.
Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu were convicted in the 1988 road rage case that resulted in the death of 65-year-old Gurnam Singh, who was allegedly beaten up by Sidhu. Singh was then rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
In a Twitter post Wednesday, Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu said that her husband “falls in the category of a dangerous animal” which is why the government did not want to release him.
“Navjot Sidhu falls in the category of a dangerous animal so the government does not want to extend the 75th year of Independence relief to him. You are all requested to stay away from him,” she wrote on her handle.
— DR NAVJOT SIDHU (@DrDrnavjotsidhu) January 25, 2023
Former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) presidents Shamsher Singh Dullo, M.S. Kaypee and other senior Congress leaders held a press conference Thursday at Sidhu’s Patiala residence and slammed the Modi government saying that the BJP did not want him to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently in the last leg of its journey in Jammu and Kashmir and will conclude in Srinagar on 30 January.
Sidhu’s wife had joined Rahul Gandhi during the Punjab leg of the Yatra earlier this month.
Dullo also blamed the AAP-led Punjab government for not following up on the cases of remission with the centre.
“The remission offer was made by the Government of India through a circular of June last year as part of which proposals were sought and names of 51 prisoners were shortlisted from Punjab for grant of remission. This list included Sidhu’s name. I am not sure if the file had to be cleared by the Punjab cabinet but had the state government wanted, they could have ensured his release,” said Dullo.
press conference by former PCC Presidents , Sri Shamsher singh dullo ji , Sri M.S. Kaypee ji and other senior congress leaders at Patiala residence of Sardar Navjot Singh Sidhu ji pic.twitter.com/MLcKLqEGuO
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) January 26, 2023
He further said the Aam Aadmi Party too worked in consonance with the centre. “The Sidhu phobia has not worn off from the Aam Aadmi Party,” Dullo added.
‘Ego issues’ among party leaders
Sidhu’s supporters had organised a gathering outside the jail to welcome him. Posters welcoming him had also been put up on the way to his house and langars were organised. However, no official arrangement was made by the Punjab Congress to welcome him.
On being asked about the infighting in the Punjab Congress and why no senior party leaders have visited Sidhu in the jail, Dullo said that there could be “ego issues” among leaders and added, “everyone within the party should have been sympathetic to the fact that he is in jail”.
When asked about the lack of interest being shown by the state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Randhawa in pushing for Sidhu’s release, Dullo said that “the leaders who are holding the posts should be large-hearted in their approach towards others in the party.”
“In this case, while the responsibility given (to Raja Warring) is big there is little experience to go with it,” he added.
In 2019, Sidhu who served as a minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab resigned from his post following differences with Singh. He was made the state Congress chief in July, 2021.
During the same year in September, when Amarinder Singh was asked to resign from the chief minister’s post by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Sidhu was hoping to be named the next CM. The post then went to Charanjit Singh Channi. Sidhu was also seen to be interfering excessively in the work of the chief minister, during Channi’s tenure, by insisting on having his choice of men as DGP and the advocate general.
The Punjab Congress suffered a massive drubbing during the state Assembly elections last year, winning only 18 seats in the 117-seat assembly. The party lost Uttarakhand, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur as well. Sidhu along with the other state chiefs was asked to resign from their posts.
Also read: 30 years after road-rage incident, Sidhu let off with a Rs 1,000 fine