CHANDIGARH, Sept 28: Navjot Singh Sidhu today quit as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
Hours after his resignation, Razia Sultana, a part of the new 18-member ministry led by Charanjit Singh Channi, too put in her papers, expressing solidarity with the former cricketer.
Punjab Congress general secretary Yoginder Dhingra and treasurer Gulzar Inder Chahal followed with their resignations. Amid a flurry of political activity, several State Congress leaders visited Sidhu at his home in Patiala.
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Sidhu, 57, who announced his resignation shortly after the allocation of portfolios to the new Ministers, said he remains with the party.
He was appointed the party’s State unit president on July 18 amid a bitter power tussle with Amarinder Singh, who stepped down as the CM 10 days back while accusing the party high command of humiliating him.
Sidhu didn’t elaborate why he has quit.
But speculation in party circles ranges from his displeasure over the allocation of the home portfolio to Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to the appointments of the acting police chief and the State advocate general by the new CM.
“The collapse of a man’s character stems from the compromise corner, I can never compromise on Punjab’s future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab,” he said in his letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“Therefore, I hereby resign as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress,” the letter on Twitter said.
Amarinder Singh, who had called Sidhu “dangerous” and “anti-national”, was quick to react. “I told you so… he is not a stable man and not fit for the border state of Punjab,” he tweeted.
Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar tweeted, “It’s just not cricket !”
“What stands compromised in this entire ‘episode’ is the faith reposed in the (outgoing?) PCC President by the Congress Leadership. No amount of grand standing can justify this breach of trust placing his benefactors in a peculiar predicament,” he posted.
The abrupt resignation took place on a day Amarinder Singh was headed to Delhi, and the day before Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal was scheduled to visit Punjab to make some “big announcements”.
Singh’s travel plan had triggered speculation that he might meet some BJP leaders.
His media aide, however, said the Congress veteran had come to the capital on a personal visit and will vacate Kapurthala House, where the Punjab CM stays during trips to Delhi.
In her resignation letter to Chief Minister Channi, Razia Sultana said she is quitting the ministry “in solidarity” with Sidhu. Her husband Mohd Mustafa, a former IPS officer, is his “principal strategic adviser”.
She held the Transport Department in the Amarinder Singh-led Government.
Channi, once considered a Sidhu loyalist, claimed he was not aware of his resignation. “I have not received such information,” he told reporters.
Asked if Sidhu was upset over the allocation of the home portfolio to Randhawa and some other appointments, he said, “We will sit with Sidhu Saheb and talk to him. He is our president and a good leader.”
“The Congress has crossed all limits in the battle for chair and pride. Punjab has never been so disgraced,” he said in a statement.
In Delhi, the AAP claimed that Sidhu resigned because a Dalit was made the chief minister.
BJP leader Tarun Chugh said, “The Congress in Punjab is in complete mess and the state is paying a heavy price for the chaos.” (PTI)
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