Give me freedom or face consequences, says Navjot Singh Sidhu
In what could be seen a dare to the Congress high command, newly appointed Punjab unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu has asked it to allow him the freedom to take decisions or he will give a devastating reply.
Sidhu said he didn’t want to remain just a “show horse”.
He made the remarks on Thursday at a meeting with industrialists and traders in Amritsar, amid the continuing tussle with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ahead of next year’s assembly polls.
A fallout of the tussle was the resignation on Friday of Sidhu’s adviser Malvinder Singh Mali after his controversial remarks on the Kashmir issue. The party leadership picked the cricketer-turned-politician a few weeks back as the Punjab Congress chief, ignoring opposition from Amarinder Singh. But the two camps in the state Congress have not yet called a truce.
Addressing a trade and industry association, Sidhu said he will ensure that the Congress remains in power in Punjab for the next 20 years.
“But if you don’t let me take the decisions, I will also ensure total devastation,” Sidhu said in Punjabi, using the term “itt naal itt bhi khadkavunga”. He added there was no point in being just a show horse (darshani ghoda).
Floor test
Later in the day, Opposition parties, including the AAP and SAD, asked the Amarinder Singh-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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