Chandigarh/Delhi: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned from the Punjab cabinet on Sunday, once again took to social media to announce that he had sent his resignation letter to chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Sidhu had come under fire from different quarters after he announced that he had quit the cabinet on June 10. His opponents blamed him for “trying to blackmail” the central leadership, claiming that he should have sent the letter to the chief minister directly. Senior Punjab cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra called him the ‘king of theatrics’ while commenting on his resignation.
Confirming that he had received the letter a day after Sidhu made it public on Twitter, Singh condemned Sidhu for picking and choosing ministries and refusing work. “There should be some discipline,” he added.
“Yesterday I was told that he has sent his resignation to the Congress president. Today I am told that he has delivered it to my house in Chandigarh this morning. So when I get back tomorrow I will have a look at it,” he said.
Singh also commented on Sidhu’s absence from the ministry since the portfolios were shuffled on June 6. “We have 17 ministers in Punjab. I changed portfolios of 13 of them. I changed Sidhu’s ministry from local bodies’ department to renewable energy department, which for us is a critical thing in Punjab. We need a minister to buy power from the national grid and to do many other things.”
Referring to the state of agriculture in the state, the chief minister said, “June to October is a critical time in Punjab as it’s paddy season. In Punjab, over 30 per cent of the area hasn’t even received a drop of rain. The situation is very bad. Every day I receive (feedback) on the power situation in the state. Now that’s the job of the minister. If he doesn’t do it, I can’t do anything about that.”
Meanwhile, some opposition parties in the state have started sending feelers to Sidhu, with Aam Aadmi Party state unit chief Harpal Singh Cheema asking Sidhu to join his party.
The Sukhpal Singh Khaira-led Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) and the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) of Simarjit Singh Bains went a step further and invited Sidhu to join their front as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2022 assembly elections.
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