Amid brewing tension within the Punjab congress and stern statements from CM Capt. Amarinder Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed as the Punjab Congress ‘Captain’ on Sunday, July 18. Further, four new working presidents of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee have been appointed as well. These 4 individuals are Kuljit Singh Nagra, Pawan Goel, Sukhwinder Singh Danny and Sangat Singh Gilzian.

The appointment was made by Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi and comes after reports of conflict within the state unit kept emerging in the last few days.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. The ongoing rift between Capt. Singh and Sidhu
3. The Origins of the Conflict
4. Sidhu as Capt. Singh’s Critic

Details

On Sunday, the All-India Congress Committee issued a statement which read, “Congress president has appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect.” The announcement came on Sunday evening after the day for the political leaders in Punjab was spent in consolidating their positions, giving their support to either one of the two factions of Navjot Sidhu and Capt. Amarinder Singh.

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Now Sidhu – along with the 4 new working presidents – will be paving the party’s way for the 2022 assembly elections. The elected leaders ware foreseen to be responsible for the entire revamp of the Congress’ organizational structure. The 4 new working presidents are. – Sangat Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Pawan Goel, Kuljit Singh.

After the appointment, several Congress leaders took to Twitter and congratulated Sidhu and the 4 new working presidents.

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The ongoing rift between Capt. Singh and Sidhu

While all – is – well in the Sidhu cap, reports are claiming that him being elevated as the Congress chief will deepen the rift between him and Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh. Capt. Amarinder was reportedly upset with Sidhu and reports of rift between the two of them were warm in the news. In a recent AICC meeting, he told the AICC’s General Secretary Harish Rawat that any decision made by the Congress will be acceptable to him. However, Capt. refused to meet Sidhu till he made a public apology to him.

The Origins of the Conflict

To say Singh and Sidhu had stern relations would be an understatement. A BJP incumbent, Sidhu joined the Congress in 2017 before the assembly polls. The former cricketer-turned-commentator-turned-politician was included in the Punjab cabinet’s tourism and cultural affairs minister. The first round of reports of a conflict between Singh and Sidhu came when Sidhu quit Capt. Singh’s cabinet in 2019 after the latter changed his portfolio.

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Sidhu as Capt. Singh’s Critic

Since then, the verbose public speaker also became an outspoken critic of Captain Amarinder Singh. On May 1, Sidhu shared a video on Twitter where Capt. Singh can be heard promising to take actions against Badals. As the issue is still in purgatory, Sidhu captained the video saying, “Big Boast, Small Roast …Big Outcry, No Outcome …”

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On May 10, he shared another video of Capt. Singh and wrote, “Nefarious intentions are evident, No High Court stopped you in 4-1/2 yrs ! When DGP/CPS appointments are set aside, orders are challenged in Higher Courts in matter of hours. Now, first you attack the High Court, than from backdoor accept same orders to deflect People’s attention.”

In July, Sidhu launched another attack on Capt. Singh’s government and its handling of the Punjab power crisis. Sidhu shared as many as 9 tweets against the Punjab Chief Minister. The issue arose when the Chief Minister cut short office hours and reduced power supply to industries to meet the summer demand.