New Delhi | Congress leader Navjot Singh Sindhu has resigned from his position as a minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab cabinet.
Sidhu in a tweet posted a letter dated back on June 10, wrote to the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Respected Sir, I hereby resign as the minister from the Punjab Cabinet.” He further wrote that he will be sending my resignation to the Punjab Chief Minister.
Will be sending my resignation to the Chief Minister, Punjab.
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 14, 2019
In a cabinet reshuffle on June 6, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had divested Sidhu of the Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments and allotted him the charge of the power and new and renewable energy portfolio.
In an apparent snub, Sidhu was also left out of the consultative groups formed by the chief minister two days after the cabinet reshuffle (June 8) to accelerate the implementation of the government’s flagship programmes.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former BJP leader who had joined the Congress just ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly polls, had been at loggerheads with Amarinder Singh.
The tension between Amarinder Singh and his cabinet colleague had come out in the open when the CM blamed Sidhu for the “inept handling” of the Local Government Department, claiming that it resulted in the “poor performance” of the Congress in urban areas in the Lok Sabha polls.
Hitting out at Sidhu, the chief minister said, “If he was a real Congressman, he should have chosen a better time to air his grievances, instead of just ahead of voting in Punjab.” “He is harming the party with such irresponsible actions. It is not his election but that of the entire Congress’s,” he added. “Perhaps he is ambitious and wants to be the chief minister,” Singh said.
The opposition had complained to the Governor of Punjab about Sidhu failing to appear in the ministry that there has been a constitutional crisis in the state, the Energy Minister is drawing salary on time but has failed to appear in the ministry.
Sidhu, however, had said that his department was “singled out publicly” while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a “performer throughout”. The CM had also said the urban vote-bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu’s “failure” in carrying out any development work impacted the party.
Earlier, Amarinder Singh had taken umbrage at Sidhu’s “friendly match” jibe during electioneering in Bathinda on May 17.
Sindhu had allegedly cornered the Congress government in the state over the issue of the desecration of religious texts, questioning why no FIR was lodged against the Badals, who ran the previous government in the state.
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