Sidhu puts on a show of strength in Amritsar with 62 Congress MLAs in tow

Sidhu and Amarinder Singh has been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appeared cornered by his own partymen as 62 out of the 80 Congress MLAs rallied behind newly-appointed state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on his visit to Amritsar.

Sidhu was appointed as the Punjab Congress chief on Sunday and the cricketer-turned-politician has lost no opportunity to put up a show of strength and send a clear message to his bete-noire, the chief minister, that “winds of change” had started blowing in the party.

Sidhu is set to formally take over as the Punjab Congress President on Friday and has sent an invitation to the chief minister, signed by MLAs backing him, to attend the event.

Amarinder has refused to meet Sidhu till he apologised for his personally derogatory social media attacks against him. But, MLAs supporting Sidhu have ruled out an apology and asked the 79-year-old chief minister to sink differences and welcome him with “open arms” to strengthen the party.

Read | 'Amarinder Singh won't meet Sidhu without apology'

“I think at this level, leaders should not ask each other to apologise,” Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab MLA and former Youth Congress President said in Amritsar.

The 62 MLAs gathered for a meeting at Sidhu’s residence in Amritsar and later boarded a luxury bus to visit the Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple and Ram Tirath Sthal.

"Winds of change — of the people, by the people, for the people — Chandigarh to Amritsar, 20 July 2021," Sidhu said on Twitter posting a video of people receiving him with warmth throughout the state.

At least four ministers in Amarinder’s council of ministers were present at Sidhu’s residence besides the outgoing state unit chief Sunil Jakhar.

Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said even the chief minister’s arch-rivals Partap Singh Bajwa and Sukhpal Singh Khaira had resolved their issues. “Why can’t the chief minister sink differences with Sidhu,” Randhawa wondered.

The rivalry between the chief minister and Sidhu can be traced back to 2017 when the latter joined the Congress after a bitter fallout with the BJP just ahead of the assembly elections.

Strongly backed by the Gandhi family, Sidhu charted his own separate way in the Punjab Congress which was not liked by the chief minister, who ensured his ouster from the cabinet in 2019.

Since April, Sidhu has been openly critical of the chief minister, accusing him of not keeping the poll promise of taking action against the perpetrators in the sacrilege case and the drug mafia in the state.