The Indian Panorama

Tag: Navjot Singh Sidhu

  • Punjab: Limited role is pushing Conventional parties to political hibernation

    Punjab: Limited role is pushing Conventional parties to political hibernation

    By Prabhjot Singh

    Pushed to the edge  and left with limited  role both in  the state and  at the Centre,  the majority of political powers of yesteryears have been forced into a political hibernation. Ruing the rise of  Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the new ruling outfit, the conventional power brokers in this border State of Punjab – Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party – are finding themselves pushed to the edge. They have virtually become mute spectators to the political developments that have been unfolding since the new regime of Bhagwant Singh Mann took over reins of the State in March.

    After taking all five Rajya Sabha seats in March, AAP is all set to take the remaining two seats, elections to which are scheduled for June 10 with May 31 as the last date for nominations. None of the other parties – Congress, SAD or BJP – will have any say in the process that for the first time in recent decades will witness a complete wash out by the ruling party in the State. While both Congress and BJP are making meek and feeble efforts of evincing interest in the bye election to Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, silence of the Shiromani Akali Dal is intriguing.

    The Election Commission has  announced the schedule for filling three Lok Sabha seats –  Sangrur, Rampur and Azamgarh –  that are presently vacant.

    The bye-elections will be held on June 23 and results will be announced on June 26. June 6 will be the last date for filing of nominations. Besides ruling AAP, other parties, too, have to announce their candidates for the June 23 bye-election. Bhagwant Mann’s sister has already been campaigning in the area. She avoided answering if she would be interested in contesting. “Party will decide, she quipped.

    Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Sanyukat Shiromani Akali Dal may be interested in contesting the bye-election by fielding Parmnder Singh Dhindsa, who  along with former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, were among the losers in the last Assembly elections. The Rajya Sabha Elections for 57 seats, including two from Punjab will be held on June 10, 2022. Of these 57 seats , 11 are from Uttar Pradesh,  followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with  six seats each.

    Other States where the Rajya Sabha election will be held are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Haryana.

    Sangrur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in March after the incumbent  Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was elected to the State Assembly from Dhuri.

    Political analysts are expecting the Election Commission to announce the schedule for filling all three vacant Lok Sabha seats in time for the Presidential election in July this year.

    The ECI is expected to announce the Election schedule for the 16th Presidential Election  in June as  the tenure of the present incumbent  Ram Nath Kovind is till  July 24. The new incumbent is mandated to take over  on July 25.

    Again, the role of Punjab politicians in the Presidential election will mainly veer around AAP while Congress, SAD and BJP with small or little presence in the State Legislature or Parliament presence will have their limited roles.

    Never before Punjab witnessed such a political scenario with three of major players pushed to the edge. After their humiliating defeats in the February Assembly elections, problems have been aggravating for almost all the conventional parties. Congress, for example, has been going through its worst phase.

    The party continues to be tormented by exits of its senior leaders. After the former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunil Jakhar said goodbye to the party, former Union Ministers, Ashwini Kumar and Kapil Sibal have also left the party. They both represented Punjab.

    Navjot Singh Sidhu, who followed Sunil Jakhar as President of the Punjab unit has been sentenced to undergo one-year rigorous imprisonment in an old case. On the eve of the Assembly elections early this year, Congress lost its high profile Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who later floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress. Close on heels of his exit from Congress, two other MLAs – Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa – too left the party and joined BJP. Now Sunil Jakhar, too, has joined BJP.

    Shiromani Akali Dal is understandably lying low after its worst ever drubbing in any election. It recently lost its veteran leader Tota Singh.

    While one of its breakaway groups, Sanyukat Shiromani Akali Dal led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (His term as member of Rajya Sabha ended in April this year), objected to its alliance partner BJP going out alone electioneering in Sangrur for ensuing bye-election, SAD has been watching the developments silently. Even the third partner of the alliance, Punjab Lok Congress, has till now not shown any inclination in contesting the Sangrur bye election. BJP has appointed Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to assess the atmosphere in the constituency before taking a final decision.

    Weakened or marginalized Opposition notwithstanding, the ruling AAP is not without its problems.

    Dismissal of the Health Minister, Dr Vijay Singla, by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on corruption charges is not without its widespread ramifications. The public perception and image that the AAP government is “honest, clean and sincere” has suffered an image set back.

    Dr Vijay Singla incidentally happened to be the first ever Cabinet Minister from Mansa. He had defeated popular folk singer Sidhu Moosewala in the Assembly elections.

    Several senior AAP legislators are continuing to lobby for their induction in the Bhagwant Mann Cabinet.

    Besides Cabinet expansion, the party has to choose its nominees for the two Rajya Sabha seats and also for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat. This is an opportunity for correcting the impression that Delhi would decide about Punjab representation in the upper House of Parliament. It is time for Bhagwant Mann to act on his own  than emulating what Delhi had done before or wants to be done now.

    ( Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered  Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows. For more in-depth analysis please visit probingeye.com  or follow him on Twitter.com/probingeye. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)

  • Navjot Singh Sidhu sentenced to 1-yearrigorous imprisonment in 1988 road rage case: surrenders

    Navjot Singh Sidhu sentenced to 1-yearrigorous imprisonment in 1988 road rage case: surrenders

    NEW DELHI/ PATIALA /NEW YORK (TIP): Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu surrendered before a court in Patiala on Friday, May 20, a day after being sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage death case. “He surrendered before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Malhan,” said senior advocate HPS Verma, who accompanied Sidhu to the court.

    The former Punjab Congress president surrendered shortly after 4 pm, and was taken for the mandatory medical examination, conducted at the Mata Kaushalya Hospital. After the medical check-up, he was lodged in the Patiala Central Jail. Some party leaders including Navtej Singh Cheema, Ashwani Sekhri and Sidhu’s supporters accompanied him from his home to the court, which is close to his residence.

    Cheema drove Sidhu, who was dressed in a blue-colored ‘pathani suit’, to the court in an SUV. This came just hours after the former Punjab Congress president approached the Supreme Court seeking a few weeks to surrender to serve the imprisonment.

    The top court bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and JB Pardiwala told senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Sidhu, that the judgment on one-year rigorous imprisonment was passed by a special bench, and that he can file the application and mention it before the Chief Justice. Singhvi said he will try and mention the matter before the Chief Justice. Back in Patiala, some former MLAs and supporters turned up at Sidhu’s residence in the morning to show their support, but no prominent Congress leader from the state unit was seen either at his home or at the court with him. However, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa expressed their support to Sidhu on social media, with both saying in their tweets that while they respect the Supreme Court verdict, they stand by Sidhu and his family. The cricketer-turned-politician’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had reached their Patiala residence on Thursday, May 19  night.

    The SC had on Thursday, May 19,  sentenced Sidhu to one-year rigorous imprisonment in the case, saying any undue sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. A 65-year-old man, named Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident. When reporters sought Sidhu’s reaction to the verdict on Thursday, he  declined to comment. However, he  later tweeted to say he “will submit to the majesty of the law”. Though the apex court had in May 2018 held Sidhu guilty of the offence of “voluntarily causing hurt” to the man, it had spared him a jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000. Gurnam Singh’s family had sought a review of the judgement, which was allowed by the SC.

    “We feel there is an error apparent on the face of record… Therefore, we have allowed the review application on the issue of the sentence. In addition to the fine imposed, we consider it appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a period of one year,” the bench said while pronouncing the verdict.

    Sidhu, a former BJP MP, had switched over to the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly polls. For months before the 2022 assembly polls in the state, Sidhu was engaged in a tussle with Amarinder Singh, who was then the chief minister of the state as a Congress leader. The top Congress leadership forced Amarinder Singh out after Sidhu targeted him for months over the “unfulfilled” promises by his government, and the differences between them could not be settled. Sidhu was then made the party’s state unit president.

    Sidhu began his political innings in 2004, contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar, where he shifted his base from Patiala. He defeated Congress heavyweight R L Bhatia.

    The former cricketer’s relationship with the Badal family soured even though the Shiromani Akali Dal was a BJP ally then. And then he had problems with the BJP after the party fielded Arun Jaitley from Amritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Though he was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha later, the maverick politician quit the party to join the Congress.

    (Source: Agencies)

  • Poll debacle: Sonia sacks Cong chiefs in five states

    Poll debacle: Sonia sacks Cong chiefs in five states

    New Delhi (TIP)- In a move to fix accountability for the party’s decimation in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five States, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, March 15,  sacked the Congress chiefs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is among the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs asked to put in their papers.

    The Congress’ chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala, claimed it was for the reorganisation of the PCCs. Uttarakhand’s PCC chief Ganesh Godiyal was the first to tender his resignation. The move not only comes just two days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) asked Ms. Gandhi to take immediate corrective steps but also before a possible meeting of the “G-23” leaders, who had earlier written to Ms. Gandhi for sweeping internal reforms and collective leadership, on Wednesday to decide their next strategy.

    A key member of the group, Kapil Sibal, has already publically taken on the Gandhis by stating that while people like him wanted a “Congress for all”, some others wanted a “Congress for the family”. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi walked away when reporters asked him for a response as he was entering Parliament House. But several Gandhi family loyalists including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Bhupesh Baghel, slammed Mr Sibal.

    Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore tweeted: “Why RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] and BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] wants Nehru-Gandhi’s out of the leadership? Because without Gandhi’s [Gandhis’] leadership Congress will be become Janata party. It’s easy to kill Congress then it’s easy to destroy the idea of India. Kapil Sibal knows it but why he is speaking the language of RSS/BJP.”

    Another member of the G-23 grouping, Sandeep Dikshit, said, “Those who were responsible for formulating policies in the poll-bound States should accept responsibility for the loss.” Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat was one of the Congress leaders who took responsibility. Mr. Rawat hit out at his detractors. He hinted at sabotage by colleagues, not just against him but also his daughter, while countering the charge that he had “sold” tickets to unworthy candidates. He indicated that he could look at “other options” if he alone was seen as a liability for repeatedly losing elections.

    The Congress veteran, who has been blamed for the loss in Uttarakhand as well as “mishandling” Punjab as a former in-charge of that State, also defended himself. “In Punjab, Hindus are our largest support base. In the middle of the elections, who said I was not made a Chief Minister because I am a Hindu?” asked Mr. Rawat, referring to former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar.

    “I pray to god that the Congress takes note of the allegations against me and expels [me] from the party. Holi is a festival where one burns down evil and Harish Rawat should also be politically buried,” Mr. Rawat added, to counter the allegation by friend-turned-foe Ranjeet Rawat (who lost the election from the Salt constituency of Almora) that tickets were sold.

    As the disquiet within the Congress over the poll debacle played out in the public domain, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a closed-door review of the party’s performance in Uttar Pradesh. The review meeting came just two days after the CWC decided to hold a chintan shivir (brainstorming session) to review as well as prepare for the upcoming Assembly elections this year and next year, and the Lok Sabha election of 2024.            Source: The Hindu

  • NRIs key to propelling Punjab’s growth: Navjot Singh Sidhu

    NRIs key to propelling Punjab’s growth: Navjot Singh Sidhu

    AMRITSAR / NEW YORK (TIP): Addressing NRIs as the “soul of Punjab”, Sidhu said at most of the villages, the NRIs had donated more funds than the government and their influence could not be ignored. “Instead of doling out funds for electioneering, I urge each one of you to reach out to at least 100 of your relatives living in Punjab, convince them to vote only for the truth,” he said.

    He said the “Punjab Model” contained a roadmap especially for the NRIs who could be the “shareholders” in guiding Punjab on the way to progress. He said the model was shaped out of 17 years of his toil and observation on political pitch and emphasized that in politics, the two terms — ‘aas te vishwas’ (hope  and faith) — held significance.

    “Since the NRIs live in a better ecosystem, they could be the enablers who could propel us to progress. They could be the biggest shareholders to lay the foundation of Punjab’s progress. For this, we have to win over their faith. They wish to invest in Punjab but get dejected due to poor management and governance. If a single-window system without official and legal wrangles persisted, they would be ready to join us in our mission without any hitch,” he said.

    Citing the examples of the Kartarpur corridor and toppling of Capt Amarinder Singh, Sidhu said he had turned the “impossible to possible”. “If that could be done, the same way I will also show you the transformation of Punjab,” he said.

    My fight is against the system and the mafia that have mortgaged the state. I am committed to transforming Punjab, said Sidhu.

  • Punjab turmoil now a political storm for Cong

    Punjab turmoil now a political storm for Cong

    New Delhi/Chandigarh (TIP): A party in disarray in a poll-bound state. A defiant state unit chief rebuffing the party’s overtures. A snubbed former chief minister meeting a top political rival. And, senior leaders publicly voicing differences with the leadership, prompting protests by others in the same party.
    The Congress’ troubles in Punjab spilled over to Delhi on Wednesday as former chief minister Amarinder Singh met Union home minister Amit Shah and leaders upped their pitch for organisational changes, a day after state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s abrupt resignation plunged the party into crisis.
    Singh, who had denied talk of him visiting Shah a day ago, drove to the home minister’s residence around 6pm for a meeting that lasted less than an hour.
    The event stoked speculation that Singh, who resigned as CM last week after a months-long tussle with Sidhu and complained he was humiliated by the party leadership, could join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or seek its support.
    But Singh said the meeting focused on the ongoing farm agitation against three central laws. “Met Union home minister Amit Shah ji in Delhi. Discussed the prolonged farmers agitation and urged him to resolve the crisis urgently,” he tweeted.
    A senior BJP functionary said a section of the party felt Singh could resolve the standoff between the government and protesting farmers, but added that nothing was finalised. The Congress accused Shah and the BJP of trying to take revenge. “Amit Shah’s residence is the hub of anti-Dalit politics,”said party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, referring to the Punjab’s new chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit.
    “Not ji huzoor 23”
    The Congress’s woes in Punjab, where the party was well-placed to fight the February-March assembly polls before factionalism erupted in May, prompted a group of senior leaders in Delhi to resurrect their 2020 demands for organisational changes and internal elections.
    Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the leaders of the so-called G23, wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking a Congress Working Committee meeting to discuss the Punjab and Goa situations as well as the “mass exodus” in the organisation. Senior Congress leader and former Goa CM Luizhinio Falerio joined the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday, Sept 29.
    Another G-23 leader, Kapil Sibal, demanded “open dialogue” and introspection, questioning the lack of clarity in the decision-making process.
    He emphasised that the grouping was not made up of yes men: “We are G23 but not ‘ji huzoor (yes, lordship) 23’,” he told reporters in the Capital.
    Sibal said he was speaking on behalf of the 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi last year and were waiting for the leadership to act on their demands.
    “We don’t have a president. So, who’s taking the decisions? We all know and yet we don’t know. We want a CWC meeting for a dialogue to take place,” he said.
    The former Union minister clarified that the G-23 leaders did not plan to exit the party. “People close to them have left them. But those who are not considered close, are with them,” he said, referring to the exits of senior leaders in recent months.
    Party general secretary Ajay Maken criticised the comments and party workers protested outside his house in the evening with “get well soon” placards. “My appeal to Mr Sibal and others like him is that they should not denigrate the organisation which has given them political identity by rushing to the media every then and now,” Maken told PTI.
    Punjab tussle
    Dissension in the Congress’s Punjab unit erupted in May but the leadership hoped the appointment of Sidhu as party unit chief and the removal of his arch-rival Singh as CM would tamp down tensions.
    But Sidhu’s resignation barely 72 days after being appointed took the party by surprise, and embarrassed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who together orchestrated Sidhu’s appointment and Singh’s exit as part of an effort to end factionalism and improve the party’s chances in next year’s state elections.
    The move exposed new fault lines in the party. On Wednesday, Sidhu appeared to rebuff the Congress’s overtures and questioned key appointments made by chief minister Channi.
    “To fight for justice of ‘Guru Sahib’ and to improve the lives of people of Punjab and for the means, I will make any sacrifice but will always stand by principles,” Sidhu said, despite a series of senior leaders, including Channi, trying to convince him to take back the resignation.
    Senior leaders said differences between Sidhu and his one-time close associate Channi sprang up over picking minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who the former cricketer sees as a rival for the CM’s post, and controversial appointments to the positions of state advocate general and director general of police.
    Channi signalled that the party continued to talk to Sidhu. “I called him (Sidhu) and told him that the party is supreme… I have spoken to him on phone and told him to let’s sit, talk it out and resolve the issue,” the CM told reporters in Chandigarh.
    Defiant, Sidhu raises appointments in state
    Chandigarh : A day after his dramatic resignation as Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu kept his party on tenterhooks on Wednesday, putting out a video to raise questions over key appointments by chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and rebuffing overtures by top leaders. Channi, who is battling his first major political crisis just 10 days after taking over as the CM, offered to sit down and iron out differences. But Sidhu struck a defiant note in his video message, questioning the selection of the advocate general, director general of police and “tainted leaders” in the cabinet. Sidhu said he was ready to make any sacrifice but would always stand by his principles. “My first priority is to fight for justice that people have been waiting for…I will fight for truth till my last breath.
    Source: HT

  • Punjab rift widens as new Cong chief Sidhu parades MLAs in show of strength

    Punjab rift widens as new Cong chief Sidhu parades MLAs in show of strength

    Amritsar (TIP) : Newly appointed Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu met several lawmakers, ministers and leaders on Wednesday, July 21, in a significant show of strength by the cricketer-turned-politician who is locked in a bitter conflict with chief minister Amarinder Singh over control of the party.

    The leaders, including four cabinet ministers, Sidhu’s predecessor Sunil Jakhar, and other senior functionaries, gathered at Sidhu’s residence in Amritsar, before travelling to the Golden Temple and other shrines. Visuals showed large crowds with no masks or distancing at the Sikh holy shrine, with Sidhu surrounded by other leaders. They paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and Akal Takht amid a heavy rush of devotees. The leaders also offered prayers at two prominent local Hindu shrines, Durgiana Temple and Ram Tirath Temple.

    Sidhu’s camp claimed that at least 62 of the Congress’s 80 MLAs attended the visit but state intelligence agencies put the number closer to 42. The state goes to the polls in early 2022.

    Sidhu avoided the media but minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “We have not counted how many MLAs have turned up today, nor was it a show of strength. All have come to pay obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib which is not a place of holding such show.”

    The development came a day after Singh’s aides said the chief minister won’t meet Sidhu until the latter apologised for his public attacks during the past month. On Wednesday, Sidhu’s associates made it clear that the former minister wasn’t going to budge.

    “After all he is president of the Pradesh Congress now. Apology for what? People are with Sidhu,” said Ghanaur MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur.

    Three former Aam Aadmi Party legislators who joined the Congress in Singh’s presence last month, and four newly appointed working presidents — Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Kuljit Singh Nagra, Pawan Goel and Sangat Singh Gilzian – also attended the event.

    Sidhu was named the state unit chief on Sunday as part of a revamp plan that involved appointing four working presidents from different communities, overriding strong objections by Singh. An upset Singh has not publicly commented on the appointment nor met Sidhu since, indicating that the acrimonious factionalism that roiled the party since May remains unresolved.

  • Amarinder writes to Sonia, expresses reservation over Sidhu as Punjab Congress chief

    Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is learnt to have written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, expressing reservation over Navjot Singh Sidhu’s possible appointment as the state party chief. The Punjab CM is learnt to have mentioned that there could be an adverse impact on the party’s prospects in the upcoming Assembly polls by ignoring the old guard, according to Congress sources. Earlier in the day, Congress MP and senior party leader Manish Tewari gave details of the composition of the state’s population, appearing to bat for a Hindu face for the post. There are reports that Sidhu is likely to be made the Punjab Congress chief. There is also talk of appointing two working presidents-a Dalit and a Hindu face to balance the caste equations. The names of minister Vijay Inder Singla and MP Santokh Chaudhary are doing rounds for the post of working presidents. But Amarinder expressed his displeasure over Sidhu being given a key post, said the sources.