Chandigarh: Known for his trademark witty one-liners, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu will be one of the star campaigners for the Congress in the Lok Sabha poll hustings, a senior party leader said.
The 55-year-old Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister who hogged the headlines for his push for the Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan, has been the “star voter-catcher” for the Congress.
“Sidhu is one of the star campaigners for the Congress across the country. He has a way of connecting with the audience and has campaign value,” the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari said.
The cricketer-turned politician had aggressively campaigned for the party in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh assembly elections for 17 days, injuring his vocal cords in the process. He was advised by doctors to take complete rest.
Sidhu was recently at the centre of a controversy for his remarks following the Pulwama terror attack and was sacked from a popular comedy talk show for it.
Kumari said during campaigning, the Congress would target the BJP government over its “failure” in keeping its poll promises.
“These are national elections and the BJP which came to power in 2014 on a large number of promises has not been able to fulfil any of these. People would like to know what they had promised what they had achieved,” the Congress leader said.
About the SAD targeting the Congress government in Punjab for allegedly not honouring its poll promises made during 2017 assembly elections, Kumari rubbished the allegations saying the ruling party has kept many of its promises including debt waiver for farmers and farm labourers and jobs during its two-year rule.
Hitting back, Kumari said, “I want to know from the Akali Dal, who is a part of the NDA, where are the two crore jobs promised by the BJP government. Unemployment has reached its highest level in five years. It (questioning Congress by the SAD) means pot calling the kettle black.”
The Congress leader exuded confidence that the party would register victory on all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.
Also read: SAD seeks Sidhu’s dismissal after its leaders burn photo of him hugging Pakistan army chief