Navjot Singh Sidhu takes over as Punjab Congress chief

In his address after taking oath, he said that the workers are the soul of the party, which derives power from them

Warring leaders of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu finally called truce with both sharing the dais and speaking of "working together" on Friday as the new Punjab Congress chief took charge at a party event.

While the Chief Minister congratulated Sidhu and the latter got up from his chair in respect and greeted him when Captain Amarinder Singh arrived at the podium, the real test of how long this bonhomie lasts will be seen when the ticket distribution exercise begins for the state polls likely in February-March next year.

The Congress high command, that appointed Sidhu as Punjab Congress chief, ignoring the objections of Amarinder Singh, will be keen to see that a Rajsthan-like scenario does not play out where its chief Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot are engaged in a bitter power tussle since the party formed the government there at the end of 2018.

At the event, Singh and Sidhu were sitting next to each other at the Congress headquarters after a "cordial meeting" at Punjab Bhawan earlier, their first meeting in the last four months.

At the event, the Chief Minister while mentioning his old ties with Sidhu's family not only said that he and Sidhu will work together, but also underlined that "when Sidhu was born in 1963, I was commissioned in IMA."

He recalled Sidhu's father and his mother were together in politics and when he left the Army, Sidhu's father helped him get into politics.

"I used to go to Sidhu's house then, when he was 6-year-old," said Singh, who had earlier insisted that Sidhu must apologise publicly for his earlier derogatory remarks against him, before he will meet him. No public apology was, however, made by Sidhu so far.

While some news outlets ran the headline that Sidhu touched the feet of the Chief Minister during tea party at Punjab House before he took charge as PCC chief, a senior party functionary, aware of the matters, described it as "all bunkum".

At the event, Sidhu said he will have love for juniors and respect for elders and underlined that it is the workers who are the soul of the party, which derives power from them.

Mimicking a batting style as he rose to speak, the cricketer-turned-politician said, " Punjab will win, Punjabis will win. All Congress workers in Punjab have become the party's state unit chief today. There is no difference between a leader and a worker."

Reaching out to agitating farmers from the state on the Delhi border, he said, "I want to tell Punjab farmers that the biggest mission of my presidency is that the power of the government helps them and improves their lives. We shall make a difference, we have to make a difference. I want to tell farmers that their agitation is pious."

"We will move together in politics. We have to think of Punjab's welfare," the Chief Minister said, pointing towards Sidhu and urging party workers to extend full support to the new state president.. Singh also said, "when Sonia Gandhi told me that the party wants to make Sidhu as state unit chief, even then I had told the media that whatever decision Soniaji will take, will be acceptable to us."

Opposing Sidhu's appointment as Punjab Congres chief earlier, the Chief Minister had argued that it will not go down well with many seniors in the party state unti. Later, former chief of the state Congress unit, Pratap Singh Bajwa, also a Jat Sikh like Sidhu and Amarinder Singh, had thrown his hat in the race for PPCC chief.

Two days after Sidhu's show of strength at the Golden Temple, where nearly 60 of 80 Punjab MLAs accompanied him, the Chief Minister on Friday called all MLAs, MPs and party leaders for tea at Punjab House before they proceeded to attend the event of Sidhu taking over as PPCC chief.

The four new working presidents of the Punjab Congress -- Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra -- also assumed charge at the event, which also saw attendance of AICC in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat, former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former PPCC chiefs Partap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar.

Nagra and Gilzian had on Thursday extended a formal invitation, signed by over 55 legislators to the chief minister at his farmhouse in Mohali. Earlier Sidhu had in a letter on Thursday requested the CM to come for the installation ceremony, calling him the "eldest of the Punjab Congress family" and saying he had no personal agenda against him.

Sidhu, who had joined Congress in 2017 after a three-year stint with BJP since 2014, had an uneasy relation with the Chief Minister and at point had said "Rahul Gandhi and not Amarinder Singh was my captain".

He had resigned as a state minister in 2019 after he was divested of his local bodies portfolio and there was intense speculation for the last few months about his joining the Aam Aadmi Party.

Signs of a thaw in their frosty ties emerged on Thursday amid a realisation is the Chief Minister's camp that with the party high command backing Sidhu, not many MLAs would invite the wrath by siding with Singh with only nine months left for the state election.

Sidhu's appointment as PCC chief is being seen as an attempt by the party to create a new leadership in Punjab, when the chief minister is nearing 80. Sidhu had after getting the "pivotal responsibility" said that his "journey has just begun".

Shiromani Akali Dal has hit out at Sidhu's appointment saying the Congress high command is trying to hide its government's “non-performance” by bringing about a change in its state unit.

Congress has given an indication of its next generation plan also in appointing Revanth Reddy as Telangana PCC Chief, Kannur MP K Sudhakaran as Kerala Congress chief, Nana Patole as Maharashtra chief and Hardik Patel as Working President of Gujarat.

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