Punjab MPs told Congress president Sonia Gandhi that public comments by former state unit chiefs Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Jakhar “hurt” the party during the assembly elections. Gandhi held a meeting with the Punjab MPs on Wednesday to take stock of the party’s humiliating loss to the Aam Aadmi Party in the state.
A day before on Tuesday, Gandhi had asked the unit chiefs of five states to hand in their resignations over the poll debacle. Following this, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, too, resigned from his post earlier in the day.
In his one-line resignation, Sidhu wrote, “I hereby resign as President (PPCC).”
At the meeting held to discuss the party’s rout in Punjab, most MPs said public comments by Sidhu and Jakhar hurt the party. Some of the MPs also accused state incharges Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary of selling tickets. Senior leader and former chief minister Harish Rawat is also facing similar allegations in Uttarakhand.
Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari said the situation became worse after the formation of the Mallikarjun Kharge-led panel, which ultimately led to the dismissal of Captain Amarinder Singh from the post of CM. Tewari has been vocal about the infighting in the Punjab Congress, as well as the showdown between Sidhu and Captain ahead of the assembly polls.
In the days leading up to the elections, Sidhu also staked claim to become the CM candidate of the party in Punjab, soon after Charanjit Singh Channi replaced Amarinder Singh. Many state Congress leaders are saying his commentary against Channi even after he became CM also hurt the party’s prospects, showing there were cracks within the party’s structure.
Sidhu faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat. He was locked in a high-profile contest with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia but faced defeat from the hands of AAP greenhorn candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur, who defeated him by a margin of 6,750 votes.
Sidhu is a three-time Amritsar MP from the BJP. In 2014 he “sacrificed” this seat for his ‘guru’ Arun Jaitley. Later, he was adjusted in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP but not finding a bigger role in Punjab, he quit the party and resigned from Parliament.
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