CHANDIGARH: Is Punjab Local Bodies Minister and fire brand leader Navjot Singh Sidhu under pressure? He used to make scathing attacks on SAD-BJP Government for nepotism, but now he faces the same allegations as his son Karan Singh Sidhu has been appointed as assistant advocate general by the Congress-led Punjab Government.
Also, last month his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was appointed as Chairperson of Punjab Warehousing Corporation. After drawing flak, Sidhu said that his family members were not at all interested in these posts given to them and will not join them.
Having a taste of his own medicine, Sidhu is in the news again after the appointment of his son and wife. Sidhu, who had been accusing the Akalis of family politics is under attack from the SAD-BJP combine for reducing the slogan of providing jobs to each family in Punjab to just a mere joke.
Taking a dig at the Congress Government, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia said as part of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s 'Ghar Ghar Naukri' promise nobody got any job except local bodies minister Navjot Sidhu’s family. He said that his dual face has come in the open.
"While Sidhu himself is a minister, his wife has been made Chairperson of the Warehousing Corporation and now his son Karan Sidhu has been appointed Assistant Advocate General. Nothing was being done to give unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 to the youth and increase social welfare benefits," said Majithia.
Former Local Bodies Minister and BJP Leader Anil Joshi also termed Sidhu as opportunist and accused him of double standards. He said that during assembly elections congress promised job in every house but now the jobs have just been given to just one family by the government and further alleged that Sidhu who talks to develop Punjab is only considered about development of his own family.
Meanwhile, Sidhu said both his wife and son thought their conscience have decided not to take up these posts. He said that he is not a landlord and all in his family are professionals. That’s why his son decided to take the job of a law officer.
"In politics, credibility is a big thing. So my son decided not to join as Assistant Advocate General on his own," he said.
He said that his wife had also said no to the post of Chairperson, Punjab Warehousing Corporation, as she is dedicated to the welfare of the state.
The 29-year old Karan Singh Sidhu, son of Sidhu who had campaigned for his father in last year’s assembly elections from the Amritsar (East) constituency had been appointed assistant advocate general along with 13 others. Last month, the government had appointed Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu as chairperson of Punjab Warehousing Corporation, but she is yet to assume office.
Sidhu had been at loggerheads with the Badal family and has been slamming them whenever he get’s an opportunity. He had been describing Badals as the "most corrupt family" in the country and had been saying that they converted the then government into their personal fiefdom. He had been having run-ins with Bikram Singh Majithia, the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Sidhu couple switched over from the BJP to join the Congress shortly before last year’s assembly elections, Navjot Kaur Sidhu had to opt out of the race for contesting owing to ‘one-family-one-ticket’ norm, which was strictly enforced by the Congress in Punjab in the assembly elections. It is not just the opposition, the leaders within the ruling Congress are also not happy with this move of the government.