Navjot Sidhu resigns from Punjab cabinet after feud with chief minister Amarinder Singh
Navjot Sidhu has been at loggerheads with Amarinder Singh ever since his wife Navjot Kaur was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.
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Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been involved in a tussle with his boss chief minister Amarinder Singh, resigned from the state cabinet on Sunday.
Navjot Sidhu made the announcement on Twitter and sent the letter to Rahul Gandhi instead of Amarinder Singh. “My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019,” he tweeted. Minutes later, he tweeted that he will send the resignation to the Punjab CM.
Last month, Sidhu was stripped of his portfolios of Local Bodies, Tourism and Culture ministries after he skipped a cabinet meeting. Sidhu then took a swipe at Amarinder in a press conference saying that he “cannot be taken for granted” and he is only “answerable to the people of Punjab”.
Sidhu met Rahul Gandhi after the cabinet reshuffle and tweeted a picture in which he is seen with Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior party leader Ahmed Patel.
Sidhu was assigned the power portfolio in the reshuffle but even a month later the cricketer-turned-politician didn’t assume charge. The CM has been chairing meets in the power department in Sidhu’s absence.
The differences between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu were out in the open after the CM blamed Sidhu’s inept handling” of the local government department for the “poor performance” of the Congress in the urban areas in the Lok Sabha elections.
The CM had said the urban vote was the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu’s “failure” to do any development work had hurt the party. Amarinder had also expressed displeasure over his “friendly-match” remark during a poll rally in Bathinda.
Sidhu hit back accusing Amarinder of unfairly “singling” him out for the poor show of the Congress in the urban areas of Punjab. Navjot Sidhu has been at loggerheads with Amarinder Singh ever since his wife Navjot Kaur was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls. (HT)