The shockwaves sent by the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu in the political circles by submitting his resignation as Punjab Cabinet Minister may soon be neutralised with the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh appointing a new Power Minister to replace him.
The Chief Minister has already called for a Cabinet meeting on July 18.
Capt Amarinder is claiming that he has not seen Sidhu’s resignation letter which was “delivered” at his official residence in Chandigarh as he was away to New Delhi.
Capt Amarinder, who is scheduled to be back in the state capital on Wednesday, has maintained that he would take decision on Sidhu’s resignation after going through the contents of the letter.
The Chief Minister has convened the Cabinet meeting for Thursday. It is to be seen whether he would consult his Cabinet colleagues to decide upon Sidhu’s resignation or he would take the decision on his own after returning from New Delhi.
Notably, Sidhu sent his resignation letter to the Chief Minister at his official residence on Monday morning protesting against the change in his portfolio over a month after he was divested of Local Government Department, and allotted the Power Ministry.
Sidhu, on Sunday, made public his month-old resignation letter, dated June 10, addressed to the then Congress national president Rahul Gandhi. Capt Amarinder had, on June 6, conducted the portfolio reshuffling exercise.
Following which Sidhu met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on June 9, and finally putting in his papers a day after.
Capt Amarinder, who is on official visit to the national capital meeting the Union Ministers, had maintained that Sidhu should have taken over the charge of his new Department like other ministers whose portfolios had been reshuffled.
He stressed that Sidhu should have taken over the charge of Power Department first “and if, later on.
He felt that he wanted some other portfolio, that could have been considered in future”.
Ever since Sidhu was divested of Local Government Department and given the Power portfolio, Sidhu had gone incommunicado and did not assume the charge of his new Department even after a month.
In his absence, Capt Amarinder had taken upon himself to look after the Power Department which, in the wake of summer season and ongoing paddy transplantation process, holds great significance in the State.
Capt Amarinder had been convening meetings of the Power Department, taking significant decisions amidst the complaints of power shortage and electricity theft, and also seeking daily reports of the power availability.
The speculation regarding appointment of new Power Minister stemmed from the fact that the Chief Minister has openly criticised Sidhu for virtually leaving the state powerless by not assuming the responsibilities bestowed upon him by the virtue of his appointment.
“I thought power is an important thing for Punjab, one of our most important thing, so I gave it to Sidhu, but he did not want it. So I said once a decision has been taken, you can’t say I will take this and I will not take that...It’s like some General saying I am not going to get posted to Ladakh, send me to Manipur. How can you say this? You have to do what you are told to do,” the 77-year-old Chief Minister had said firmly.
Sidhu’s resignation is a direct fall out of the controversy that broke in the State following the loss of five seats by the Congress. Capt Amarinder had squarely blamed the “non-performing Minister”
Sidhu for the party’s not-so-good performance in the state’s urban pockets.
Sidhu’s departure from the State Cabinet has given a hope to several legislators who were eyeing the berth in the council of ministers. Among the frontrunners are Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Rakesh Pandey, and Randeep Singh Nabha.