Chandigarh: Disgruntled senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu continues to sulk, a month since Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh divested him of the local government ministry and handed him the power and renewable energy portfolio.
Sidhu, the cricketer-turned-politician, is believed to be at Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir and remains aloof and incommunicado. His sulk is slowly but firmly turning into defiance or, to say the least, refusal to come to terms with his chief minister, a leader of no lesser mettle.
Last seen on 10 June with Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi followed by a press conference in Chandigarh, Sidhu is keeping his cards close to his chest. He seems to be in no hurry to leave the cabinet altogether but appears to be in no mood to reconcile with the snub that the chief minister administered to him by changing his portfolio from local government to power.
The chief minister’s close aides, however, believe that the sulk has gone too far.
“Sidhu’s prolonged abstention from all official work is now not being viewed sympathetically even by those who would otherwise back him in the party or government,” said a close aide to the CM.
Widely perceived to be backed by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Sidhu’s political stock is on the wane following the Congress president’s resignation.
Also read: After tiff with CM Amarinder, Sidhu gets power ministry in Punjab cabinet reshuffle
A running battle with the chief minister
Sidhu’s is upset over Amarinder laying the entire blame of the Congress’ performance in the Lok Sabha elections at his door. He was particularly irked when three of his cabinet colleagues — Brahm Mohindra, Charanjit Singh Channi and Bharat Bhushan Ashu — especially when to meet senior leader Ahmed Patel to inveigh against him early last month.
Also, while the power portfolio is per se no less important than local bodies, Sidhu’s activism as a minister has given him a high politico-moral stake in continuing with his original charge.
This has resulted in an unenviable impasse. The government is under attack from the opposition for not having a power minister despite a scorching summer.
BJP leader Tarun Chugh Monday wrote to the Punjab governor V.P. Singh Badnore, asking as to how Sidhu continues to draw his salary from the public exchequer when he was not working at all.
“Since the minister has gone ‘underground’ and is incommunicado and has willfully chosen not to take charge of his new assignment, the work related to his department was suffering like anything,” the BJP minister said.
Last week the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party raised questions about Sidhu’s absence especially when farmers in the state were facing an acute shortage of power for paddy plantation. AAP MLA and the leader of the opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema, said Punjab was suffering due to the infighting going on in the Congress.
Rapprochement efforts fail
Efforts made to bring about a rapprochement too have failed. Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa considered to be close to the chief minister made a fervent appeal to Sidhu to join duty. “It is the prerogative of the chief minister to assign portfolios,” Bajwa said. “Sidhu should start working in his department. Given his skills, he is bound to succeed.”
Early this month, Amarinder publicly condemned the sharing of Sidhu’s morphed picture on social media platforms. A Pakistan-based Khalistani leader Gopal Singh Chawla shared a picture of Sidhu wearing a green turban with a star and crescent on it, hinting at Sidhu’s secret allegiance to Pakistan. The CM appealed that the picture not be shared or circulated.