Crisis within the Congress party in Punjab seems to be growing by the day. The latest round of fire was over Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s recent comments, perceived to be as targeting Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s administration in the state. Channi is reported to have put on hold the resignation of Punjab Advocate General A.P.S. Deol, a long-held demand of the Sidhu faction, after the reported ‘friendly fire’. Differences of opinion between Channi and Sidhu had become palpable in the recent days, as the Congress unit seems riven by intra-party hostility ahead of crucial assembly polls.
Most recently, Sidhu hit out at politicians who offer "lollipops" just ahead of polls, in an apparent attack on his own party-led government in the state, and urged people to vote only on the agenda of Punjab’s welfare. His remarks came on a day when CM Channi announced slashing of the power tariff by Rs 3 per unit for the domestic sector, and increasing the dearness allowance for government employees. Addressing a gathering of the Hindu Mahasabha, Sidhu wondered if anybody would talk about the welfare of the state. "They [politicians] offer lollipops…this is free, that is free, which happened in the last two months [ahead of the Punjab assembly polls slated to be held early next year]," he said.
The cricketer-turned-politician asked people to question those politicians as regards how would they fulfil such promises. Stressing on a roadmap for the revival and welfare of the state, he asked people to cast their votes on the agenda of development, not for "lollipops".
In the immediate aftermath of those remarks, reports emerged that the Deol resignation has been put on hold by CM Channi. A senior party source told The Indian Express: “This was Sidhu’s last chance. The party had asked Channi to remove the AG. Still, Sidhu spoke out against the government at the function.”
And Sidhu is not the only disgruntled voice in the party. Earlier, senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar had taken a dig at the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government in Punjab for allegedly failing to issue newspaper advertisements to remember Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary. In a tweet, Jakhar tagged a Punjab government advertisement issued last year under the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government to commemorate the former prime minister. "I can understand the BJP trying to erase ‘Iron Lady of India’ from history, but don’t we still have a Congress government in Punjab," Jakhar tweeted.
In another tweet, Jakhar made a veiled allusion to the appointment of Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress’s new executive committee and wondered if government’s not issuing an ad to remember Indira had anything to do with it. "Or is it a case of ‘once burned twice shy’, in light of certain appointment two days ago?" Jakhar posted. Tytler was one of the main accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
-Inputs from agencies
