Punjab: BJP, AAP slam Congress over Navjot Kaur's 'Rs 500 crore for CM's chair' remark

Punjab: Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu has sparked a political row by saying “one needs Rs 500 crore for the chief minister's chair”, with the BJP and AAP claiming her comments exposed the “ugly truth” of how the grand old party functions, and the “money bag” politics it indulges in.

Navjot Kaur’s remarks also drew flak from her own party members, with a senior MP wondering if her husband and former Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, intended to destroy the party.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Navjot Kaur said her husband will return to active politics if the Congress declares him as the party's chief ministerial face in Punjab, which will go to the polls in 2027.

She also said they do not have money to give to any party but can transform Punjab into a “golden state”.

“We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat… But we do not have Rs 500 crore to give for sitting on the chief minister's chair,” she said.

Asked if anybody demanded money from them, she said nobody has asked for money, but the “one who gives a suitcase of Rs 500 crore becomes the chief minister”.

Reacting to Navjot Kaur’s remarks, AAP Punjab general secretary Baltej Pannu said they have exposed the “ugly truth” of how the Congress functions, how its leadership is decided, and how Punjab's interests are sidelined for personal ambitions and monetary deals.

“Navjot Kaur Sidhu made two explosive claims – that Navjot Singh Sidhu will re-enter Punjab politics only if Congress declares him as its chief ministerial face, and that the Sidhus do not have Rs 500 crore to pay – implying that becoming a chief minister in the Congress requires a Rs 500 crore deal,” Pannu said in a statement.

Calling the remarks “deeply disturbing”, Pannu questioned if the Congress leadership “truly sells” the chief minister’s chair for Rs 500 crore.

“If Sidhus claim that they don't have Rs 500 crore, who pays this amount? Where does this money go? To the state unit president? To the high command? To Rahul Gandhi or (Mallikarjun) Kharge? The people of Punjab deserve answers,” Pannu said.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said there are many criteria for becoming the chief minister in the Congress.

“I heard her (Navjot Kaur) statement of Rs 500 crore. But what I had heard from the horse's mouth was that Rs 350 crore was given to secure the chief minister’s chair. I am not naming anybody,” Jakhar, who switched to the BJP from the Congress in 2022, said.

The Congress has “dacoits” who are still holding positions of power within the party, he alleged.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said Navjot Kaur has exposed the politics of “money bags” in the Congress by publicly stating that the chief minister's chair in Punjab costs Rs 500 crore, which her husband Navjot Singh Sidhu cannot pay.

In a statement, Chugh said, "When the wife of a senior Congress leader herself admits that the chief minister’s position can be purchased through financial deals, it demonstrates a complete moral collapse in the party led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.” “It shows that the party's internal functioning has reduced Punjab's politics to a money-driven auction system instead of a democratic leadership process,” he alleged.

Chugh said Navjot Kaur’s statement about five Congress leaders lobbying for the chief minister’s post in Punjab also revealed the deep-rooted infighting that has paralysed the party from within.

“Instead of addressing the problems of Punjab, the Congress leadership is busy bargaining and plotting for power, and such behaviour only reflects its desperation for control at any cost,” Chugh claimed.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said it seemed that the “mission” for which the Sidhu family joined the Congress was complete.

“Navjot Sidhu was given the reins of Punjab, as he was the son of a Congress leader. Will they tell us whom he gave the suitcase to, and what the amount was, when he was made the Punjab Congress president, a position equal to that of the chief minister?” Randhawa said in a statement.

“Now, if we look at his past performance, it becomes clear that Sidhu only spoke the script prepared by the opposition, which caused heavy damage to the Congress.

“If we read the past interviews and newspaper statements of the Sidhu family, it will be clear whether he came to save the Congress or destroy the party,” Randhawa said.

People could have enjoyed more had the Sidhus made such remarks from another party, he said. “Now, he is stabbing the party in the back while leaving,” Randhawa said.

“I think the Congress high command should give Sidhu a farewell before he returns home," he added.