CHANDIGARH: The festering tension between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has come to the fore again after the latter was not consulted over the Amritsar and Patiala mayoral polls.
A buzz that Sidhu is being sidelined has been doing the rounds after he was ignored by Amarinder and state Congress chief Sunil Kumar Jakhar while shortlisting candidates for Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Amritsar. Sidhu made his displeasure known at being bypassed and also skipped their election and oath-taking ceremony. He said he doesn’t go anywhere uninvited and added that he had got information about the selected candidates from the media.
Around 17 councillors from Amritsar, said to be in the Sidhu camp, are reported to have skipped the oath-taking ceremony of the new Mayor, Karamjit Singh Rintu. The Congress has issued notices asking them to show cause why action should not be taken against them.
Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa has been trying to underplay Sidhu’s annoyance, claiming he may have been busy with other official work.
Sidhu attended the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday but said he was upset as he was not consulted in the process for elections to Municipal Corporations of Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar. “I am extremely hurt that despite being the Local Government Minister, I was not involved in the process,” Sidhu said.
Sources said that the cricketer-turned-minister’s growing popularity had not gone down well with those close to the centre of power. Some MLAs from Majha appear inclined to support Sidhu but are not speaking up as a Cabinet expansion is on the cards.
Daljit Singh Cheema of the Akali Dal said it was strange that Sidhu was allegedly not ready to accept the authority of even Congress President Rahul Gandhi. “This is proved from the manner in which he boycotted the meeting held to elect the Mayor in Amritsar and even forced councillors loyal to him to boycott the meeting,” he said.