'His past as a cricketer makes it difficult for the BJP to question his nationalism.' 'He gets away by ridiculing Modi while something similar from most Congress leaders does not resonate as much.'
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member strategic policy group to ensure better coordination between the party and the state government and expedite implementation of various government programmes.
Sidhu, who had been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, had stayed away from all Congress activities ever since he resigned as cabinet minister last year.
His tweet pressing the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government to change the director general of police and state's advocate general appears to indicate that he continues to remain unhappy over certain key appointments.
'If the Congress wants to keep the ship afloat, it will have to bury the differences.'
Amarinder Singh failed spectacularly in these assembly elections -- his new party failed to open its account, his ally BJP fell flat and he failed to even win his own constituency.
'Because if a Dalit is made the chief minister, they ask who is taking the decisions in the Congress?'
The party wants to give time to Sidhu, but if he does not agree, then strict steps can be taken, the sources said.
Sidhu, who had been attacking the AAP-led government in the state over various issues including the law and order situation, said Punjab's resurrection was possible only with a collective effort.
Nearly five years ago when he joined the Congress, ex-cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu had said he is a 'born Congressman' now coming back to his roots.
WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh urged that the national championships and camps should be conducted as all activities have come to a standstill.
Ahead of a likely organisational and government reshuffle in Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met poll strategist Prashant Kishor at his residence.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had booked Shubham Shokeen and another former employee Aarti Mandal in the case on the basis of a complaint from the French embassy.
Ahead of Amarinder Singh's resignation as Punjab chief minister on Saturday, over 50 Congress legislators from Punjab had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking his replacement, highly placed party sources said.
When events like these take place, it is easy for the BJP to portray the Gandhis as latter-day versions of the Borgias or Medicis, who toy with their nobles and promote favourites, points out Vir Sanghvi.
With Charanjit Channi's selection as Punjab CM, the Congress has got its opponents thinking seriously about their next move, notes Sanjeev Nayyar.
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said the former chief minister Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government had to be replaced as it was being run by the BJP from Delhi.
Sidhu said 50-100 Congress leaders patted him on his back for the visit.
'He was a cricketer who come once in a lifetime...'
"Unfortunately, the seniors were being completely sidelined," he said in a statement.
He further said Sidhu's resignation has been forwarded to Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Friday stepped in to pacify sulking party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu who is said to be upset with the party leadership for "sidelining" and "ignoring" him.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday said the state must concentrate on real issues that concern every Punjabi even as MP Manish Tewari said he never saw "such chaos and anarchy" being played out in the party's state unit.
As state-level leaders tried to placate Sidhu, he made it clear through the video that he was in no mood to budge on his 'principles'.
Sunil Jakhar was among the front runners for the chief ministerial post after the exit of Amarinder Singh. But the party preferred Charanjit Singh Channi, who became the first chief minister of Punjab from the Scheduled Caste community.
A day after Punjab Advocate General A P S Deol accused Navjot Singh Sidhu of spreading misinformation and obstructing him, the state Congress chief on Sunday hit back, alleging that the AG's 'earnest inaction' was subverting justice in the sacrilege and drug cases.
Meanwhile, Navjot Singh Sidhu again launched an attack on the former CM.
India will not call of the Australian tour after Harbhajan Singh was banned for three Test matches.
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh has been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases.
Sidhu's joining may come in the next few days which are considered auspicious.
Kejriwal, who is the AAP national convener, asserted that the people of Punjab are fed up with the present leadership ruling the state and added that the state is looking for a new type of leadership.
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday skipped a meeting held by newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring with several party leaders from Amritsar.
The panel, chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge, has been tasked with addressing differences between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Prominent G-23 members including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari have not been included in the Congress list of star campaigners for West Bengal assembly elections.
'If you put your own party into the witness box, like what Sidhu did, and treat them as wrongdoers, then how will the people of Punjab trust the party?'
Sidhu's meeting came days after he called Mann as a "rubber doll", alluding to the Opposition charge that the state government is being run by the Aam Aadmi Party leadership from Delhi.
Even as Sidhu parries queries on whether he would join the AAP, dissent is brewing in Arvind Kejriwal's party.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia was on Wednesday questioned for more than two hours by a special investigation team probing a drugs case registered against him.
The Special Investigation Team on Saturday arrested the contractor of the blanket factory that collapsed in Jalandhar on Sunday, even as rescue workers scrambled to extricate people trapped from the site where 21 bodies have been recovered so far. The contractor identified as Sarvan Singh, who had constructed the factory building, has been arrested. He has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, SIT chief Navjot Singh Mahal said.
Sidhu had promised that he would quit politics if his party president lost from Amethi, where he was contesting against Bharatiya Janata Party's Smriti Irani.
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