NEW DELHI: Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday claimed he had got a message from Pakistan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu in his government because he was an old friend of their prime minister.
Singh, who has floated a new party after leaving Congress and is fighting Punjab Assembly polls in an alliance with BJP, said that he was told that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be grateful if he can keep Sidhu in the government.
"After I dropped Navjot Sidhu from my government, I got a message from Pakistan that he is an old friend of their prime minister and he would be grateful if you can keep him in the government. If he (Sidhu) doesn't work, then you can remove him," Singh said here during a press conference at BJP headquarters to announce a seat-sharing arrangement.
Amarinder, who had dropped Sidhu from the Punjab government during his tenure as the state's chief minister, never had smooth relations with the cricketer-turned-politician and was against appointing him as the Punjab unit chief of the Congress.
The former Punjab CM also ridiculed Sidhu's tall claims of fighting the sand mafia when he had himself led the September rebellion of MLAs who were involved in illegal mining, thus clearly exposing his own interest in sheltering them.
Considering that many of the Congress MLAs whom Sidhu had led in rebellion against him (Capt Amarinder) had direct or indirect interest or share in the state's sand mafia, the PPCC president's credentials in the matter were patently dubious, said the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief.
Rejecting Sidhu's allegation that he had failed to take action against the sand mafia during his tenure as chief minister, the PLC leader said not only had he taken all possible administrative steps to check the illegal mining, he had specifically asked the Congress president for directives on acting against the Punjab Congress leaders and members involved in the racket.
"Why he was not given the necessary direction to take such action, which had political connotation and significance, was something that Sidhu should ask the Congress leadership if he really was serious about the issue," asked Capt Amarinder.
The PLC chief further said the Punjab Congress MLAs, about whose ties with the sand mafia he had reported to the Congress president, were in direct touch with the party leadership in the run-up to his removal from chief ministership.
What had shocked him was that instead of taking action against these MLAs, who had the support of Sidhu, the Congress high command had chosen to sack him, said the former chief minister.
Amarinder Singh said Sidhu's persistent and unsubstantiated attacks against him even after his departure from the Congress showed how insecure the PPCC president was.
In his desperation to undermine his (the former CM's) political clout and importance in Punjab, Sidhu had even forgotten his own party unit, which was in a state of total disarray with blatant and open infighting, he said, adding that together, Sidhu and Charanjit Singh Channi were leaving no stone unturned to ensure the wipe-out of the Congress in Punjab.
On Sunday, Amarinder had alleged in Chandigarh that Sidhu has "no brains" and also claimed that he had advised Congress president Sonia Gandhi five years ago not to induct "this incompetent man" in the party".
(With Inputs From IANS)