With growing tensions between Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Tuesday, 9 July, lashed out at the former cricketer.
“If the minister doesn't want to work, someone else should look after his department,” he said.
“It has been more than a month since Sidhu was given charge of the power and non-renewable energy sources department, but he is yet to join his new office,” Chugh added.
This has invited a lot of concern and criticism from not just the BJP, but Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders as well.
‘Requested Governor to Take Decision’
Chugh also said that he has written a letter to Punjab governor, saying, “there is a constitutional crisis in Punjab today."
Attributing the ongoing constitutional crisis to the feud between Singh and Sidhu, Chugh said, “I request the Governor to take decision in Punjab’s interest. If the minister doesn’t want to work, someone else should look after his department. If he’s drawing a salary but not working, action should be taken.”
Earlier, Chugh had criticised Sidhu saying that consumers in his state were "suffering" because of high power tariff.
In the wake of the developments, SAD leader and spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema has also accused Sidhu of creating a constitutional crisis in the state and demanded his removal from the Cabinet.
Aman Arora, co-president, AAP Punjab expressed his disappointment with Sidhu, stating that his absence is “coming at the cost of the common man's suffering.”
‘Wise Man’ Sidhu Must Join: Bajwa
Rural and Housing Development Minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bawa, who had earlier distanced himself from commenting on Sidhu, said, as per The Indian Express: "Sidhu saab should join. He is a wise man. He should contribute to the department which is of the utmost importance,"
He added that the decision to change the portfolio was the prerogative of the chief minister.
Bajwa's advice came three days after a delegation of Punjab ministers, including Brahm Mohindra, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Charanjit Singh Channi, had met All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader Ahmed Patel along with Sandeep Singh Sandhu, the CM's political secretary.
Patel is said to have appealed to the leaders that the state leadership should have avoided creating a situation that arose since the Cabinet reshuffle which has tainted Punjab Congress' image.
The chief minister had changed Sidhu's portfolio over a month ago, on 6 June, and gave him the Department of Power. A defiant Sidhu, however, has refused to take charge.
The mood of the Opposition parties has made the Congress government defensive, and ever since the differences between Sidhu and Singh came to the fore, the situation has worsened with Sidhu openly expressing his resentment.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI, The Indian Express, India Today.)
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