Hyderabad: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Tuesday, 71 days after being appointed to the post. It is learnt that he quit as he was unhappy over the first expansion of new Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's Cabinet, allocation of portfolios and appointments to crucial posts, including the advocate general.
Here is a chronology of Sidhu's political innings:
1999
Sidhu retires from cricket.
2004
Fights the general elections for the first time on a BJP ticket from Amritsar and wins.
2006
Quits Lok Sabha after conviction in a 1988 road rage case.
2007
Wins Lok Sabha by-election from Amritsar on a BJP ticket.
2009
Retains the Amritsar seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
2014
Vacates the Amritsar seat for party colleague Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha elections. Jaitley loses to Congress's Captain Amarinder Singh.
Also read: No personal rivalry, politics my only religion: Sidhu
2016
July 28: Resigns from Rajya Sabha
August 13: Meets Arvind Kejriwal fuelling speculation of joining Aam Aadmi Party.
September 2: Forms new front Awaaz-e-Punjab with Pargat Singh and Bains brothers.
November 28: Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur joins Congress.
December 20: Sidhu meets Rahul Gandhi.
2017
January 15: Joins Congress Party and announces his candidature from Amritsar East.
2018
August 18: Attends Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony as Pakistan Prime Minister; courts controversy by hugging Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.
2019
July 15: Resigns from Punjab cabinet after he was divested of his portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. He was made Power Minister which he refused to accept.
2021
July 18: Took over as president of the Punjab Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. It signalled a truce between him and Amarinder Singh. Four MLAs appointed his deputies, paving the way for a revamp in the party's organisational structure.
August 24: At least 32 party MLAs, including four cabinet ministers, revolted against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and held a meeting in Chandigarh deciding that a five-member delegation will try to meet the Congress high command the same day to demand change of Chief Minister.
September 18: Amarinder Singh resigns as Chief Minister. Charanjit Singh Channi becomes new Punjab Chief Minister. Speculations arise over Navjot Sidhu's missed opportunity of becoming chief minister, something that he was seen to be angling for since 2017 when he joined the Congress.
September 28: Navjot Sidhu resigns as Punjab Congress chief.
