Amarinder Singh invites Navjot to lunch amid tight ties | Photo credit: PTI
Key points
- The two leaders of Congress have been at odds for the past year.
- Sidhu resigned in June last year, four days after he was stripped of key portfolios in the cabinet shakeup.
- On July 14, he shared the June 10 resignation letter from the state cabinet on Twitter.
Chandigarh: Nearly a year after their series of bitter public disputes, Punjab Prime Minister Amarinder Singh extended the hand of friendship to former Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu in an apparent attempt to resolve their differences.
On Tuesday, the Punjab CM invited Sidhu, the Amritsar East Congress MLA, to lunch on Wednesday to discuss state and national policy during the lunch meeting.
The two congressional leaders, who have disagreed for the past year, will meet for the first time since Sidhu’s resignation from the state cabinet. Sidhu resigned in June last year, four days after being stripped of key Cabinet portfolios. remodeling.
Rift between Sidhu, Singh
The cricketer-turned-politician was apparently upset after he was stripped of the Ministry of Local Government and Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and assigned the portfolio of New and Renewable Energy and Energy.
He was also not part of the advisory groups formed by the prime minister, after the cabinet reshuffle, to accelerate the implementation of the government’s flagship programs.
On July 14, Sidhu shared his June 10 resignation letter from the state cabinet on Twitter, which was addressed to then-President of Congress Rahul Gandhi.
Before his resignation, Sidhu and Singh had gone out in public to launch several searing attacks on each other. The gap between the two leaders first came to light in June when the CM held Sidhu responsible for the “inept handling” of the Department of Local Government, claiming it led to the defeat of Congress in urban areas at the Lok Sabha polls. .
Earlier, Singh had objected to Sidhu hugging the Pakistani army chief during his visit to the neighboring country. Sidhu had also irritated Singh by saying that “Rahul Gandhi is the captain of the captain”, referring to Singh.
Sidhu, a former BJP leader, had joined Congress prior to the 2017 Punjab assembly elections.
