Amid buzz of his return, Navjot Sidhu bonds with Amarinder Singh over tea

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was hosted by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for high tea on Wednesday. The date, going by the buzz,  was meant not only as an ice-breaker but also to finalise the details of his return to a cabinet post. Sidhu had resigned in July 2019 after being stripped of all key posts by the CM, capping months of acrimony between the two.

Sidhu was earlier invited by the CM for lunch but the meeting was rescheduled for tea at 4 pm because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video conference with all chief ministers to discuss the fight against COVID-19.

Almost confirming Sidhu’s possible return to the Punjab Cabinet, his wife Navjot Kaur said that in order to work one needed a post. “If he was eyeing a post, he would’ve been somewhere else for 1.5 yrs. But, if he’s unable to work, there’s no point in sacrifice. To work for farmers, a post is required that lets him take decisions,” Navjot kaur told ANI.

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The Chief Minister is scheduled to hold a press conference to mark four years of his government on Thursday. The announcement of Sidhu’s re-induction may be made there.

Reports suggest that the Congress high command was keen to engineer a patch-up between the two given that the state goes to polls next year. Party general secretary incharge Harish Rawat had also met the chief minister a few days ago with a message from the high command.

The lunch was accompanied by speculation that Sidhu, 57,  was likely to be the deputy chief minister of the state. But, according to reports, Amarinder Singh had not agreed to this arrangement as he did not want two power centres just ahead of assembly elections. The Indian Express, quoting party sources, said that the party high command was inclined to appoint Sidhu as the Punjab Congress chief.

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Sidhu joined the Congress in 2017 from the BJP. He was the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar for 10 years, but in 2014 the party decided to field Arun Jaitley from the constituency. This was the beginning of Sidhu’ disillusionment with the BJP and he quit two years later.