Sulking Sidhu meets Rahul, Priyanka; hands over letter

Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, on Monday met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and handed him a “letter”.

Sidhu met Rahul along with AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress Treasurer Ahmed Patel.

“Met the Congress President, handed him my letter, appraised him of the situation,” Sidhu said.

The contents of the letter that Sidhu handed over to the Congress President were not immediately clear.

Sidhu has been on a warpath with Congress veteran Capt. Amarinder Singh, the Punjab Chief Minister, and has never shied away from expressing his political ambitions.

Singh had recently blamed Sidhu for the narrow loss of the Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring from the Bhatinda Lok Sabha seat.

Last week, the chief minister divested Sidhu of the local government, Culture & Tourism portfolios and made him in charge of the Ministry of Power, new and renewable energy. Sidhu was also kept away from the various ministerial consultative groups re-constituted by the chief minister.

Sidhu had been camping in the capital since Friday for a meeting with Rahul, who was away in Wayanad. The cricketer-turned-politician has always flaunted his proximity to Rahul and Priyanka, much to the discomfiture of the chief minister.

Sidhu has been incensed at the chief minister for the denial of Lok Sabha ticket for his wife Navjyot Kaur Sidhu from Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.

The development came after Sidhu, who quit the BJP to the Congress just before 2017 assembly polls, had skipped a cabinet meeting and instead chose to address the media at his official residence on Thursday.

The chief minister had also said the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's “failure” to do any development work had impacted the party.

After the ministry snub, Sidhu was left out of eight consultative groups formed by the chief minister on Saturday to expedite implementation of the state government's schemes.

Sidhu, however, on Thursday, had said his department had been “singled out publicly” while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a “performer throughout”.