In the wake of widespread criticism over submitting his resignation letter from the Punjab Cabinet to party leader Rahul Gandhi instead of Chief Minister Capt. (retd.) Amarinder Singh, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday said his resignation has been delivered to the Chief Minister.
“Today, I have sent my resignation to the Chief Minister Punjab, has been delivered at his official residence,” he said in his official Twitter handle.
Capt. Singh said if Mr. Sidhu did not want to do his job, there was nothing he could do about it. “The Minister should have accepted his new portfolio instead of shunning the work in the middle of the crucial rice [paddy] sowing season. If he doesn’t want to do the job, there is nothing I can do about it.” How a soldier could refuse a job assigned by the General, he asked. There had to be some discipline in the government if it was to function effectively, he said.
Capt. Amarinder, who was in New Delhi, told reporters that he had been informed that Mr. Sidhu's resignation has been sent to his residence in Chandigarh but he was yet to see it. He would have to read it first to be able to comment on it. He pointed out that he had reshuffled the portfolios of 13 of the 17 members of his Cabinet after the Lok Sabha elections and Mr. Sidhu was the only member who had problems. The reshuffle was decided on the basis of their performance, and Mr. Sidhu should have accepted his new department..
“Mr. Sidhu was given the crucial Power portfolio, which was particularly important at this time in view of the rice [paddy] season, from June to October. With many parts of the State not receiving adequate rain, the power situation is critical, requiring day to day monitoring,” he said.
The Chief Minister expressed his unhappiness with the statement issued by Mr. Sidhu and his wife on the latter’s candidature for the parliamentary elections. He clarified that he had never opposed Mrs. Navjot Sidhu’s candidature and had suggested she should contest from Bathinda, which the couple rejected.
Capt. Amarinder and Mr. Sidhu have been at loggerheads since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It started with Ms Navjot Kaur Sidhu accusing Capt. Amarinder of blocking her Lok Sabha ticket from Chandigarh. Later, the Chief Minister blamed Mr. Sidhu for not handling his department well, which he claimed had resulted in the Congress’s “poor performance” in urban areas in the general election.
