Amidst rising rebellion within Punjab Congress unit, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday virtually gave ‘Chalo Delhi’ slogan to his own party men for bringing the “truth” about sacrilege cases to the high command’s notice.
In a tweet, Sidhu claimed that he had, since 2019, talked about the “one” who was shielding the culprits of Guru Granth Sahib, and now the Congress party MLAs and workers must go to Delhi and speak the “truth of Punjab” to the High Command, “as I regularly do”.
On warpath with the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, former Minister and Congress MLA Sidhu has been critical of his own party’s government since long, especially over the issue of sacrilege and drugs.
Even after intense efforts by the party high command to bridge the gap between the party’s two top leaders, it has only widened further. So much so that the party now, it seems, has been divided into two power centres of which one was openly speaking against the Chief Minister and the State Government.
Among these are some Ministers and also MLAs, besides Capt Amarinder’s known critics — Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, both Rajya Sabha MPs.
Sidhu’s call to the party MLAs came days after the anti-Capt Amarinder camp held a closed door meeting, which they claim, was attended by five ministers, seven MLAs and one MP.
Further intensifying his attack on the Chief Minister while continuing his “tweet-attack”, Sidhu has urged all Congress MLAs to apprise the party high command of the real situation in the State.
“In 2019, I began & ended my Election Campaign in Punjab seeking - Justice for Sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib Ji & punishing the culprits & the ONE shielding them... Now, Our MLAs & Party Workers must go to Delhi & speak the Truth of Punjab to our High Command, as I regularly do!,” he tweeted.
Posting a video on Twitter, the former cricketer stressed that seeking justice for the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib was his main emphasis during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign trail.
Sidhu was also among those who participated in a recent meeting of MLAs and Ministers to pressurize the Chief Minister to act against the perpetrators of sacrilege and police firing cases.
Indirectly accusing Capt Amarinder of shielding the culprits of the case, Sidhu also asserted his closeness to the party top brass through about 10-minute video clip he shared on Twitter, flashing his pictures and shots with Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Notably, Sidhu has regularly met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress former president Rahul Gandhi despite being sidelined in the Punjab party unit.
SOME LEADERS TRYING TO CREATE ILLUSION BY GIVING ‘FALSE’ FIGURES OF PEOPLE REPORTEDLY ATTENDING THEIR MEETINGS: JAKHAR
On the other hand, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday asked the partymen to beware of opportunistic leaders looking for ‘opportunity in crisis’, while also making it clear that the party high command was keeping a close watch on those trying to “inflame dissidence”.
Jakhar cautioned the party workers against a “few leaders” who were always trying to seek opportunities in any crisis situation.
Reiterating that at present, the biggest challenge before us is to save the people from the wrath of COVID pandemic, he said that any attempt to divert attention from this core issue cannot be termed as public interest.
Jakhar said that after the High Court’s decision to inquire afresh into the sacrilege related issue, of course the people of Punjab as well as Congressmen were more than concerned regarding the case, “but the Punjab Government and the Congress high command are very serious about it and justice will be assured in the case”.
“In such a challenging time, the behaviour of a few leaders trying to further their own agenda cannot be justified in any way,” he said.
The state Congress chief said that by giving false figures of the people reportedly attending their meetings, some leaders were creating the illusion of leading a campaign which is a figment of their own imagination.
Cautioning the party workers against the leaders who were trying to seek accolades by giving an ultimatum to the Government, Jakhar said that the party high command was monitoring their actions. “Any kind of support to such leaders would be a losing proposition. Instead of using their position to consolidate and strengthen the party these self styled leaders are creating fissures in the party cadre to further their not so hidden agenda,” he said.
“All workers should be careful of designs of such leaders who are pursuing their own goal instead of fighting the real issue of Punjab, that is COVID,” he added.
Jakhar added that in case, some leaders were still perturbed, “the party high command is working to sort out the issues in an amicable manner. The high command is seized of the entire issue and working to resolve it soon. At present, there should be no misunderstanding and attention should not be diverted from battle COVID as we are accountable to millions of people, they expect us to control the surge in pandemic effectively”.