Former India opener Navjot Sidhu says wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant's return to form is just a "matter of time" following his nearly 15-month-long absence from professional cricket after a horrific car crash.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Sidhu further said that electing a good chief minister is only in the hands of the voters of Punjab.
"Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat is my good friend but who gave him the right to take such a big decision about Punjab at his level? What is the meaning of Captain's leadership now after the Kharge committee's decision to contest elections under Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi?" Congress MLA Pargat Singh said.
In a statement, Deol said Sidhu's 'repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the state government to ensure justice in the drugs matter and the sacrilege cases'.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur on Friday said her husband 'gifted' the chief minister's chair to Bhagwant Mann, claiming that Arvind Kejriwal once wanted the former cricketer to lead Punjab but he chose not to betray his party.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Tuesday asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers after the party's drubbing in the recently held Assembly polls in these states.
Barring 2004 and 2009 when Navjot Singh Sidhu won the Amritsar seat as a BJP MP and 1998 when Daya Singh Sodhi from BJP was elected as the MP, it has essentially a Congress bastion.
Rohit was declared captain of India's yet-to-be-named T20 World Cup squad in February this year by BCCI secretary Jay Shah at an event in Ahmedabad, a good two months after he was replaced by Pandya as MI skipper.
The Congress, however, said state chiefs are free to take their decisions within the party's norms and constitution.
Notably, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu had urged Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state to announce the chief ministerial face for the polls, following which Gandhi had said that the decision in this regard would be taken by the party workers.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has unfurled a 'new anti-mafia era in Punjab' and hoped he would rise to the expectations of the people.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
The former state Congress chief was jailed on May 20 last year after being sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court over the death of the 65-year-old Gurnam Singh in a road rage case in 1988.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a minister in the outgoing cabinet of Amarinder Singh whose name is doing the rounds among the probables to be the new leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Punjab, on Sunday asserted that he has never hankered after posts.
Celebrating his ton, Rahul took his helmet off, closed his eyes and punched his bat straight up in the air, while Virat Kohli applauded from the other end. This was Rahul's sixth ODI century.
A senior party leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that there is a possibility of a reshuffle in the Punjab cabinet 'to reduce the impact of anti-incumbency'.
Sidhu had replaced Sunil Jhakhar as PCC chief in July this year.
A meeting of the Punjab Congress Legislative Party, which was slated for 11 am on Sunday, has been deferred, with party sources saying that a consensus is yet to be made on the name of the new CLP leader.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on Sidhu's latest drama.
On Wednesday night, Sidhu's media adviser Surinder Dalla claimed that Sidhu has been officially intimated that he could go on November 20 instead of November 18.
Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat.
Jakhar, the former president of Punjab Congress, said the party had never named its CM face adding that it was only an exception that the Congress high command had declared Captain Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate in the run-up to the 2017 state assembly polls.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, a minister in the outgoing cabinet of Amarinder Singh, is likely to be the state's new chief minister, Congress sources said on Sunday.
The top Congress leadership has not accepted Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation and adopting a wait and watch policy.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
As Punjab reels under unscheduled power cuts, Sidhu on Friday sought a law to nullify the power purchase agreements signed during the tenure of the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Filing nomination from the Amritsar East seat, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday dared his bte noir Amarinder Singh to leave Patiala and take on him.
Top Punjabi singers have descended into the electoral scene in Punjab, courtesy political parties seeking to cash in on their popularity to woo voters.
In a short video of the incident, the woman is seen telling police personnel that she threw the slipper because "Sidhu spoke against Modi".
AAP would like to send an icon from the state to the Upper House of Parliament and one of the foremost names to have emerged is that of 41-year-old off-spinner.
According to the counsel, Sidhu cannot consume wheat, sugar, 'maida' and some other food items. After the board of doctors carry out a medical examination, a report will be submitted in the court of chief judicial magistrate, he said.
Last month, Kejriwal had joined the contractual teachers in Punjab's Mohali, who staged a protest making a similar demand.
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday met senior party leaders at the AICC headquarters and said he has full faith in the leadership of party chief Sonia Gandhi and any decision taken by her will be acceptable.
Directly questioning the party's high command's decision on the appointment of Sidhu as the new Punjab Congress chief, Jakhar said that the person who was trying to patch up the rift between Captain Amarinder Singh and Sidhu was forgotten by the Congress party.
Amid the ongoing turmoil in the Punjab Congress, former state party chief Sunil Jakhar on Thursday said there should be an end to attempts to undermine the authority of the Punjab chief minister time and again.
Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi are the main contenders for the chief ministerial candidate. Both have assured Gandhi they will stand by the party's decision.
The Indian government has sent Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri to represent India at the event.
Gandhi is seeking responses from Congress leaders and workers through the party's Shakti app, sources said. The opinion of common people on the issue will also be sought in a day or two.
Sidhu in his affidavit, filed along with the nomination papers, declared total assets worth Rs 44.63 crore.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances