Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to have the last laugh! The cricketer-turned-comedian-turned-politician on Friday made it clear that his innings with the “Captain” would not bowl him out of the small screen.
His orders as a minister would go simultaneously with his “thoko taali” action as he would shoot at night for ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ at Mumbai and be in his office in the morning in Chandigarh.
His critics took little time to say Sidhu may not succeed in bridging gap with the people, but will bring Chandigarh closer to Mumbai…subah Chandigarh, sham nu Mumbai.
“I will work in office till 3 pm before taking a flight to Mumbai. I will shoot till 3 am and be back in Chandigarh before you people are out of bed,” said Sidhu, after assuming the office of local Bodies Minister on Friday at Punjab Civil Secretariat.
“Janta ki awaaz mein parmatma ki awaaj hai. Jab janta ko koi iteraaz nahin to aapko kyon… Had people objected to my TV assignments, they would not have elected me by a big margin of 43,000 votes,” said Sidhu, accompanied by his wife and former MlA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Indian Youth Congress president Raja Amarinder Singh Warring, and Olympian Pargat Singh.
Quite confident of balancing his appearance on the small screen vis-à-vis his ministerial responsibilities, Sidhu said: “In the show, I will work as a judge only…and for that, I would finish my shooting at night…I will also make sure that no stone was left unturned to ensure Punjab’s development.”
Other than this, my agenda would also be to instil people’s faith in politics, he added.
Putting to rest the “controversy” over the denial of Deputy Chief Minister’s post to Sidhu as was speculation earlier, Sidhu said that he was “happy with anything Captain saab deems fit for me”.
With the Congress sweeping State polls by grabbing 77 seats out of 117, speculation was rife that Sidhu would be rewarded with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s deputy’s post. Contrary to the same, Capt Amarinder done away with the post and Sidhu has to satisfy just with the Cabinet Ministry.
“Captain is like my father. I will take up any role assigned to me. I am happy with anything Captain saab deems fit for me. I have come here to serve Punjab, and not for any personal benefits,” said the former cricketer, while addressing his first press conference after taking over as Minister.
Sidhu said that he was “just a soldier in the Captain’s army. There were rumours about the posts the Congress would offer me. I am above all this. The BJP had offered me to contest for Parliament from Kurukshetra, Chandigarh or West Delhi. later, I was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha, but my heart lies
in Punjab.”
He went to add that in case, Capt Amarinder would have asked him to be just an MlA, “I would have gladly done that…Aam Aadmi Party had offered me a lucrative post”.
“For the first time in my life, I am feeling the weight of public expectations,” he said while wondering if he would live up to it. He said that the Chief Minister has asked him "to show the positive intent of the Government in first six months, like the first session of a test match".
Sharing some Sidhuisms, he said: “The only thing that comes in life without trying is dandruff. One has to try for everything else”, while talking about the challenges his Government would face ahead.
Taking on AAP, he said that the party had thought that it could win just by trolling on social media. “Congress is a tried and tested party. My father was an advocate general associated with the party for 26 years,” he added.
The former BJP MP from Amritsar said that the local bodies department has a lot of potential for public welfare. “However, selfish interests have not allowed it to be achieved. It won’t happen now,” he said while making an indirect attack on his predecessor and rival Anil Joshi.
Besides local Bodies, Sidhu will also hold the portfolio of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister.
Regarding priorities of his department, Sidhu said that the citizen-centric services would be given in transparent manner. “The Government would not work on vendetta politics, instead development of the State in all spheres is our goal,” he said.
“Two wrongs do not make a right. We have to rise above vendetta politics and serve people to the best of our capabilities. law will take care of the corrupt,” he added.
“I had given `2 crore from my own pocket to the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner to plant saplings…I have won six elections in the past 12 years…I dared to call the Badals corrupt,” he said.
"local Governments are in an absolute mess because of rampant corruption sorting out which will be a top priority while I am in office," added Sidhu.
In his attack, he did not spare former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and former Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia.