Following months of a bitter war of words with the Punjab chief minister and several cabinet colleagues, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned his position as a minister in Punjab cabinet. He announced his decision through a letter addressed to the Congress Party chief.
Mr Sidhu who had been shunted out of his ministerial portfolio of Local Bodies a month ago, posted his resignation letter, dated June 10th, on social media on Sunday, claiming it had been submitted to Rahul Gandhi. He did not mention any reasons in his resignation for his decision to quit the cabinet.
“I hereby resign as Minister from the Punjab Cabinet,” Mr Sidhu wrote in a hand-written letter.
He added he had sent it to Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh as well.
The former cricketer shared a frosty relationship with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, with many saying Mr Sidhu attempted to be a parallel power centre in Punjab due to his proximity with the Congress central leadership.
However, after a drubbing in the Lok Sabha election in May this year that saw the incumbent BJP return to power in India with an even bigger majority, Captain Amarinder blamed Mr Sidhu for the party’s poor showing in urban segments in Punjab – the only state besides Kerala where BJP couldn’t outperform the Congress.
On June 6, Mr Sidhu was stripped of his Local Bodies portfolio and was given the Ministry of Power and Renewable energy. However, he did not assume charge of the new ministry and reportedly complained to Rahul Gandhi during a meeting that Captain Amarinder Singh had singled him out for the poor show of the party in the election.
The two politicians – both from Patiala – had been at loggerheads for many months, even before the Indian general election. In the lead up to the election, Mr Sidhu openly said his “Captain” was Rahul Gandhi and not Captain Amarinder Singh – a comment that caused much controversy in Punjab and the Congress party.
Then Mr Sidhu’s wife, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu – a former Punjab legislature had accused the Chief Minister of blocking her bid to contest the Lok Sabha election from Chandigarh on a Congress party ticket.
Mr Sidhu quit the BJP in September 2016 after being elected a Member of Parliament four times from Amritsar on the party ticket, and joined the Congress party before the 2017 Punjab state election.
In the May results of the Indian general election, out of the total 543 seats, Congress could win just 52 – 8 of which were from Punjab that has total 13 parliamentary seats.
