'Oh guru!' Sidhu's semantics cost Congress its pride in Punjab

Sidhu, who owes strong allegiance to the Gandhi family, was on several occasions seen targeting his own party

As Sidhu would say on any happy occasion, it's a 'thoko taali' moment for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab as it stares at a clean sweep victory, its first-ever win outside the national capital. Known for his crowd-pulling one-liners, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu who was once backed regardless has now become an embarrassment for his party as he failed to save the day.

He also came behind Bikram Singh Majithia, who he had dared to go toe to toe with him in the polls.

However, accepting the voice of the people as the "voice of God", he congratulated AAP on Twitter.

The constant defiance of the Congress high command which had finally led to the ousting Amarinder Singh from the party was not of much help; instead, a lack of a united face in the party could be one of the major reasons for its defeat in the northern state. On several occasions, Sidhu was seen attacking top candidate Charanjit Singh Channi, directly or indirecty, while he was keen on being named the CM face. Later, when Rahul Gandhi announced Channi as the chief ministerial candidate, the first Dalit chief minister of the state was seen touching Sidhu's feet for his blessings, triggering reactions from the Opposition parties who termed it as an 'exposure' of the party's culture.

Sidhu, who owes strong allegiance to the Gandhi family, was also seen targeting his own party over the appointment of officiating director general of police Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who was the head of the special investigation team formed by the previous SAD-BJP government to probe incidents of sacrilege. He had even stepped down as the Punjab Congress chief questioning the appointments of the AG and the DGP. Later, Sidhu withdrew his resignation but with a precondition that he would resume the charge the day a new advocate general is appointed.

Even as the “infighting” in the Punjab Congress was evident, the party did not take any step to save itself from the embarrassment, at least there was no significant effort. Sitting MLA from Amritsar East, Sidhu, as well as SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, were trailing from Amritsar East seat. AAP candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur was leading her nearest rival Majithia by 590 votes.

Apart from this, nine-year-old AAP playing its cards right was also a reason for Congress' failure. On one hand, an eerie silence descended on Channi's residence, on the other comedian-turned-politician and AAP's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann, confident of a victory, did not fail to make the 'jalebis' in advance and is now seen celebrating with party workers in Sangrur.

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