September 13, 2026 09:25 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in focus: Modi meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince on BRICS sidelines | Xi Jinping lands in India for BRICS; big Modi meeting set for New Delhi | ‘Hospitality on another level’: South African official stunned by India’s BRICS hosting | Suvendu Adhikari eats fish bhog at Kalighat Temple amid Bageshwar Baba row | Bangladeshi Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das breaks down emotionally as he gets 5-hour parole to attend mother’s funeral | Sheikh Hasina’s daughter Saima Wazed quits WHO post amid fraud allegations | After days of silence, China confirms Xi Jinping’s India visit for BRICS Summit | Big setback for Abhishek Banerjee as CID arrests aide Sumit Roy | Firebrand Tukaram Mundhe’s Food Safety Blitz Hits ISKCON Juhu, 3 Licences Suspended | Vande Mataram row erupts in INDIA bloc: Congress objects, ally NC hits back, BJP pounces
Punjab Congress infighting
Image Credit: Navjot Singh Sidhu Facebook

'Navjot Singh Sidhu's criticisms don't augur well': Amarinder Singh tells Sonia Gandhi

| @indiablooms | Aug 11, 2021, at 02:40 am

New Delhi/IBNS: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday complained to Congress President Sonia Gandhi that Navjot Singh Sidhu's criticisms of his government "does not augur well for the smooth functioning".

This comes after the Congress had tried to create a truce between the two leaders and made Sidhu the chief of the party's Punjab unit.

According to reports, Sonia Gandhi reportedly stressed that  Singh and Navjot Sidhu must work together ahead of the Punjab polls.

She directed that "both the state government and the Congress unit in Punjab must work together and not on cross purposes," Congress's Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat told media after the meeting.

The meeting comes ahead of an anticipated cabinet reshuffle in Punjab and  in the middle of strong indications that the feud between the Congress's top two in the state is far from over.

Weeks after Singh's acceptance of Sidhu as the Punjab Congress chief, the cricketer-turned-politician has launched fresh attack on the Chief Minister, jeopardising the truce attempt.

On Monday, Sidhu slammed his party's government over inaction against Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia and others, all of whom were allegedly involved in a 2018 drug trafficking case.

"Punishing the culprits behind the drug trade is the Congress's priority under the 18-Point Agenda. What is the action taken on Majithia? If further delayed, we will bring a resolution in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for making the reports public," he tweeted.

Sidhu also took an indirect dig at the CM over his "apparent inability" to tackle the drug problem without taking any names.

Rawat said Sonia Gandhi took stock of the work done to fulfill promises of the Congress, perhaps a reference to Sidhu's tweet.

Singh and Sidhu have been publicly involved in a feud damaging the Congress position in the state ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

After several failed attempts at negotiations between Camp Sidhu and Camp Amarinder Singh, a three-man peace-making team was nominated by Gandhi, to  reach a solution.

Since 2017, a bitter feud had been brewing between Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu, who, after playing the role of Congress's star campaigner in Punjab elections, hoped to be the deputy chief minister of Punjab but had to be satisfied with a ministership. Later, he resigned from the post when his ministry was downgraded by Singh.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.