Disgruntled Congress leader from Punjab Navjot Singh Sidhu on July 13 said that Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had always recognised his vision for the state.
Sidhu's remarks, amid efforts by Congress top leadership to resolve the ongoing feud between him and Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in poll-bound Punjab, can be interpreted in different ways.
It would either mean that he is contemplating a move to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party or that he is daring the Congress.
“Our opposition AAP has always recognised my vision & work for Punjab. Be it Before 2017- Beadbi, Drugs, Farmers Issues, Corruption & Power Crisis faced by People of Punjab raised by me or today as I present “Punjab Model” It is clear they know - who is really fighting for Punjab,” the cricketer-turned-politician said in the tweet, which many say was a sarcastic comment.
Our opposition AAP has always recognised my vision & work for Punjab. Be it Before 2017- Beadbi, Drugs, Farmers Issues, Corruption & Power Crisis faced by People of Punjab raised by me or today as I present “Punjab Model” It is clear they know - who is really fighting for Punjab. https://t.co/6AmEYhSP67 pic.twitter.com/7udIIGkq1l— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 13, 2021
"If the Opposition dares to question me, yet they can’t escape my Pro-People Agenda ... This means they have resigned to their fate !!," Sidhu added in another tweet.
The tweets were sent out after AAP’s state president and member of parliament, Bhagwant Mann dared Sidhu to send out a tweet on electricity issue of Punjab.
AAP is Punjab’s principle opposition party. In 2017, the AAP won 20 of 117 seats while the Congress won the polls by bagging 77 seats. The SAD-BJP alliance finished with just 15 seats.
There has been a buzz in the past that Sidhu might join the AAP. Captain Amarinder Singh had in April suggested that Sidhu may be leaving for the AAP. But, in May, Sidhu had challenged the Chief Minister to prove he had met any leader of other party for switching sides.
Last week, however, Sidhu attacked the AAP government in Delhi over its petition in the Supreme Court, which was later withdrawn, seeking closure of 10 power plants in three states, including Punjab.
On July 12, Sidhu attacked the previous SAD-BJP dispensation of Punjab for not holding a proper probe into the 2015 sacrilege incidents.
Pertinent questions of People of Punjab on Beadbi issue to Badals :-
1. Why no proper inquiry by Badal Govt into theft of “Bir of Guru Granth Sahib Ji” at Village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala on June 1, 2015, which led to Sacrilege, followed by protests and firing in October 2015 ?— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 12, 2021
The tweets on July 12 had hinted at Sidhu's ceasefire with the Punjab Chief Minister.
Sidhu had joined the Congress after leaving the BJP before the 2017 assembly elections. He quit the Amarinder Singh cabinet in 2019 over change in his portfolio.
In the last five months, his attacks on Captain Amarinder Singh have been public, and even called the chief minister a liar.
Captain Amarinder Singh met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi last week amid efforts by the party leadership to end factionalism. Prior to that, a three-member panel set up by Sonia Gandhi had recommended that Amarinder Singh is fit to be the leader of the party in the state but Sidhu should also be given a key role.
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