Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns as Punjab cabinet minister

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday tweeted his resignation letter stating that he has resigned from the Punjab Cabinet led by CM Amarinder Singh. Sidhu’s portfolio was recently changed from the Local Bodies’ to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy almost a month ago but he was yet to take charge.

Punjab: Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the state cabinet headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday. Sidhu tweeted his one-line resignation letter dated June 10 on his Twitter handle. In another tweet the Congress leader said that he will send his resigntion letter to the CM.

• My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019. pic.twitter.com/WS3yYwmnPl

  — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 14, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019. pic.twitter.com/WS3yYwmnPl

  — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 14, 2019

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  My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019. pic.twitter.com/WS3yYwmnPl

  — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 14, 2019

Sidhu had been at loggerheads with Punjab Chief Minister over Singh's decision to change his portfolio from handling the Local Bodies' to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy almost a month ago.

Sidhu, however, was yet to take charge of the ministry which he saw as a demotion.

Just before Sidhu was stripped of his ministry, he had addressed a press conference in Delhi and had indicated that he cannot be taken for granted.

Amarinder Singh justified shuffling his cabinet colleagues portfolio by accusing him of “inept” handling of local bodies department and blamed him for the party’s poor performance in urban areas.

Congress veteran Ahmed Patel had been entrusted with the task of resolving issues between Sidhu and Singh.

Singh had met Patel during his visit to Delhi last month, but the party reportedly described the meeting as a "courtesy call".

The fact that Sidhu waited for over a month before making his resignation letter public indicated that he could have been waiting for reconciliation.

Ever since the portfolio reshuffle exercise, the Punjab minister and his wife Navjot Kaur have been maintaining a distance from the media.

Sidhu had approached Congress president Rahul Gandhi on June 9 and had "apprised him of the situation" besides handing over a letter to him.

He had also shared a picture with Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on his Twitter handle and Facebook page on June 10.

Since then, he had not shared anything on Twitter and Facebook.

Sidhu, a former BJP leader who had joined the Congress just ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly polls, has been at loggerheads with Singh for some time now.

The tension between Singh and his cabinet colleague had come out in the open last month when the CM blamed Sidhu for the "inept handling" of the Local Government Department, claiming that it resulted in "poor performance" of the Congress in urban areas in the Lok Sabha polls.

The CM said last month that the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's "failure" in carrying out any development work impacted the party.

Sidhu, however, had said that his department was being "singled out publicly" while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a "performer throughout".

Earlier, Singh had taken umbrage at Sidhu's "friendly match" jibe during electioneering in Bathinda on May 17.

Sidhu had allegedly cornered the Congress government in the state over the issue of desecration of religious texts, questioning why no FIR was lodged against the Badals, who ran the previous government in the state.

This had evoked a sharp reaction from Singh. Hitting out at Sidhu, the chief minister had said, "If he was a real Congressman, he should have chosen a better time to air his grievances, instead of just ahead of voting in Punjab."

"He is harming the party with such irresponsible actions. It is not his election but that of the entire Congress," he had said.

"Perhaps he is ambitious and wants to be the chief minister," Singh had said.

Earlier also, the tension between Singh and Sidhu had come out in the public.

Last year, Sidhu had said in Hyderabad, "(Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi is my captain...Rahul Gandhi is the captain of the captain (Singh) also."

Singh had earlier disapproved of Sidhu hugging the Pakistan Army chief during his visit to the neighbouring country.