Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu set political circles abuzz with his tweet that accompanied a clip of an AAP leader taking potshots at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. In a post, that many said carried a hint of his next political destination, the disgruntled Congress leader wrote, “our Opposition AAP has always recognised my vision and work for Punjab”.
“Our opposition AAP has always recognized my vision & work for Punjab. Be it before 2017- beadbi, drugs, farmers issues, corruption & power crisis faced by people of Punjab raised by me,” the 57-year-old Congress MLA tweeted on Tuesday. Today as I present the “Punjab Model” It is clear they know, who is really fighting for Punjab, Sidhu added.
Sidhu posted the message on being prodded by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Lok Sabha lawmaker Bhagwant Mann to tweet on a video he had shared. The video clip showed Mann accusing the Amarinder Singh government of taking funds from private thermal plant power companies. Mann’s tweet accompanying the video asked, Is that a reason why, @capt_amarinder govt’t failed to revoke the Power Purchase Agreements in it’s 4.5 yr tenure?”
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh have been involved in a protracted power struggle and attempts by Gandhis and other senior Congress leaders to douse the fire have met with limited success.
The Sidhu-Singh rift dates back to 2019, when the former resigned as a minister in Punjab after being divested of the Local Bodies portfolio in 2019. He has since been waiting in the wings to be reinstated. According to reports, his demand for posts such as deputy chief minister and PCC president were deflected by the chief minister.
The two have since indulged in several public spats attacking each other over issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters, power tariff and farm protests.
As the spats between the two got uglier, party top brass had to intervene and interim president Sonia Gandhi set up a panel, led by Mallikarjun Kharge, to look into the matter. Both were then summoned to Delhi, separately, by the Congress high command.
Going by the media reports, no headway was made in the talks. But with months to go for state assembly elections, it is in the Congress’s interest to minimise damage by brokering some kind of a peace pact between the warring leaders.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Sidhu, who has already had political stints in the BJP and the AAP.