Protesting against former Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s attacks against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, more Punjab Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday sought disciplinary action by the party high command against Mr. Sidhu.
In a joint statement Balbir Sidhu, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar said that Mr. Sidhu’s targeted attacks on Captain Amarinder over the past several days were an invitation for disaster for the Congress.
Not ruling out a collusion between Mr. Sidhu and State opposition parties, such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Ministers said, “It was quite possible that Sidhu’s targeted attacks on the Chief Minister were instigated by the AAP or BJP leaders to create problems in the Punjab Congress to further their electoral agenda in the State. This manner in which Sidhu had launched the offensive against the State government, particularly Captain Amarinder, suggested a conspiracy against the Chief Minister.”
Two days after three of their Cabinet colleagues launched a counter-offensive against Mr. Sidhu, these four Ministers said Mr. Sidhu’s verbal assaults on Captain Amarinder on sacrilege and other issues amounted to open rebellion against the party. Terming Mr. Sidhu’s blatant defiance as an act of total indiscipline, the Ministers said such anti-party activities cannot be tolerated by any political establishment, and more so in a State headed for elections. “He should be immediately suspended, if not expelled, as his continued presence in the Punjab Congress was creating a mess in the party’s State unit and diverting its attention from the more important task of gearing up for the polls,” they added.
