Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu met today.
Chandigarh:
The lunch meeting of Punjab Prime Minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu, his biggest rival and critic within the party, has led to speculation that the cricketer-turned-politician could be offered a seat in the cabinet. The chief minister had maintained that Mr. Sidhu, who was inducted into the party by the BJP just three years ago, cannot be elevated to the position of state president for now.
Sidhu, who was a minister in Amarinder Singh’s government, resigned last year and had exiled himself.
The rift between the two leaders in Punjab, one of the few states ruled by Congress, was seen as a complication for the party, with only two years left before the next assembly elections.
Mr. Sidhu had spoken of the farmers’ protest and some of his criticism has been directed at his own party’s government in the state.
Then, following the intervention of Uttarakhand’s chief minister, Harish Rawat, the party appointed in charge in the state by the main party leaders to close the gap, an approach was attempted.
For the past month, Mr. Sidhu had avoided any criticism of the Chief Minister and even supported his march against the agricultural laws in Delhi.
Today’s meeting between the two, held at Mr. Singh’s official residence, was “warm and friendly”, where the two leaders spent a “pleasant hour” discussing a number of “important Punjab political and national issues” said the Chief Minister’s media adviser. .
Although backed by Rahul Gandhi, Sidhu’s tenure in the party so far has been unsatisfactory.
Not only did he gain the expected prominence – the post of senior deputy minister in government – after the Congressional victory in the assembly elections, he also ran into trouble with Amarinder Singh after his visit to Pakistan. The images of her hugging the Pakistani army chief brought heavy condemnation at home and had upset the Chief Minister, who was an Indian army officer.
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