A key player in the removal of Captain Amarinder Singh from the CM’s post, Sidhu was in race to become the new CM.
Photo: Twitter (@harishrawatcmuk)
Even as Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn as Chief Minister, Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat has sparked a controversy by claiming upcoming state Assembly elections will be fought under state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu who, he said, is “very popular”.
Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Monday questioned Rawat’s statement saying it undermines the CM’s authority. “On the swearing-in day of Sh @Charnjit_channi as Chief Minister, Mr Rawats’s statement that “elections will be fought under Sidhu”, is baffling. It’s likely to undermine CM’s authority but also negate the very ‘raison d’être’ of his selection for this position,” Jakhar said in a tweet.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Rawat said, “It (Congress face for upcoming state assembly polls) will be decided by the Congress president, but given the circumstances, elections will be fought with the Chief Minister’s cabinet under Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, whose chief is Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is very popular.”
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A key player in the removal of Captain Amarinder Singh from the CM’s post, Sidhu was in race to become the new CM. But dubbing Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu as anti-national, dangerous, unstable, incompetent and a security threat to the state and the country, Amarinder had on Saturday said he will fight any move to make the Punjab Congress president the chief minister of Punjab “tooth and nail”.
It appears to have spoiled Sidhu’s chances and the party decided to choose, a Sikh Dalit, Channi as a consensus candidate.
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