Navjot Singh Sidhu shifted out of local government department, given power portfolio
Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, was on June 6 divested of the local government department and was given the power and new and renewable energy portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle.
The portfolio rejig took place hours after the first State Cabinet meeting following the Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Singh rejigged the portfolios of most of his Ministers.
Mr. Sidhu’s tourism and cultural affairs portfolio was also taken away, as per an official statement.
Barring four Ministers, there are some changes in the portfolios of all the others as a result of the reallocation.
The Chief Minister said this will help further streamline the government and bring more transparency and efficiency.
The development comes hours after Mr. Sidhu skipped the Cabinet meeting and asserted that he could not be “taken for granted“.
Mr. Singh had recently said he intended to change the cricketer-turned-politician’s portfolio of local government department over the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
“I cannot be taken for granted. I have been a performer throughout in 40 years of my life be it international cricket, or world class commentary with Geoffrey Boycott, TV shows or 1,300 motivational talks,” Mr. Sidhu told reporters.
The simmering tension between the Chief Minister and Mr. Sidhu came out in open on May 19 when Mr. Singh accused him of damaging the Congress prospects just before the general election with his “irresponsible actions“.
Mr. Sidhu said urban areas had played a pivotal role in the party’s victory in Punjab and alleged that his department is being singled out.
“My department is being singled out publicly. I always regard him as my elder I always listen to him. But it hurts and now where is the collective responsibility? He (Singh) could have called me and said anything he wanted to say. But I was singled out in spite of collective responsibility,” he said in Chandigarh.
He added that he would defend his name, credibility and performance “fiercely“.
“Everybody is asking me why I did not go to the cabinet meeting. Oath is administered when you become a cabinet minister, then it is said that it is a collective responsibility. I have been a political science student and it is taught that the rule is ‘we swim and we sink together’,” Mr. Sidhu said.
Referring to past Cabinet meetings, Mr. Sidhu said his chair in these meetings may be “three inches” away from that of the CM’s, “but it seems I am too far from him and he (Mr. Singh) lacks faith in me.”
Commenting on the absence of Mr. Sidhu from the Cabinet meeting, Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot said Mr. Sidhu should have attended it.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, another Minister, said, “I am not Sidhu’s assistant. I am not responsible if he does not attend the meeting. If he was having a parallel (press) meeting then it is indiscipline.”
Analysis: With Cabinet sub-committee appointments, Modi keeps the politics in his firm grip
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted six Cabinet sub-committees, and formed two new ones to deal with job creation and economic growth. Cabinet committees on their own are not a matter of much interest, unless there is a political point made in who is chosen on which committees — as is the case here.
On Thursday morning, it was made clear that while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh remains number-two in the government according to protocol, the de facto political manager for Prime Minister Modi would be Home Minister Amit Shah.
Mr. Shah is a member of all the Cabinet sub-committees, including two — on accommodation and parliamentary affairs — that he will head. Also, he is one of the two members of the Cabinet committee on appointments, an important one that oversees appointments to major bureaucratic and constitutional posts.
Even more crucial is the fact that Mr. Singh is a member of only two committees — the Cabinet committee on security and on economic affairs. Despite him having been BJP president twice and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he has been excluded from the all-important Cabinet committee on political affairs and committee on parliamentary affairs.
No proposal yet on free Delhi Metro, bus rides for women, says Union Minister
The Delhi government had not sent any proposal to give free rides to women on the Delhi Metro, which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday, to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) or the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) so far, Union Minister of State (independent) MoHUA Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.
The Delhi Metro is owned 50-50 by the Union and Delhi governments.
Prashant Kishor to work with Trinamool
Election strategist Prashant Kishor will work with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal after the suffered losses in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Kishor will start work in a month’s time.
No hitch in Shiv Sena-BJP seat-sharing, says Uddhav Thackeray
The Shiv Sena’s alliance with the BJP is strong as ever and seat-sharing arrangements for the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections had been decided by the two parties, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday.
“We [BJP and Sena] have satisfactorily sorted out the seat-sharing arrangements. The media need not worry about it at this moment. They will come to know at the right time. All the parties in the BJP-Sena Mahayuti (alliance) will be satisfactorily accommodated in the seat-sharing arrangement,” he said.
The Sena’s demand for the post of Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha ought not to be construed as “disgruntlement” on its part. “The Sena does not believe in doing anything by sly means…Expressing a wish or demanding something by rights [Deputy Speaker’s post] does not mean that we are upset with the BJP. We have made this alliance [with the BJP] on the principles of Hindutva, not for the sake of merely securing two or four Union Cabinet berths,” he said.
Rebuking the Opposition, Mr. Thackeray said he had no wish to participate in “the disappointment of those hoping for a rift” within the Mahayuti .
Quashing suggestions of any disaffection with the BJP, he said, “Now that everything between the two parties is going fine, we will ensure that this alliance remains firm.”
Pragya Thakur briefly hospitalised in Bhopal
Newly-elected Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, who had been directed to appear before a special court in Mumbai in the Malegaon blast case this week, was hospitalised for a stomach ailment and discharged early on Thursday morning in Bhopal.
She was hospitalised on Wednesday night and discharged early Thursday morning, her close aide Upma told PTI , adding that she would return to the hospital immediately after attending a programme here.
On Monday, special NIA Judge V.S. Padalkar had rejected her application for exemption from appearance in the court this week , in which she had stated that she has to complete formalities relating to Parliament. The court has said her presence is necessary at this stage in the case.
Thakur has one day left to comply with the directions of the court.
Upma said, “She (Pragya Singh) is not well. She was hospitalised last night for medication. She is suffering from some stomach-related ailment and was administered injectable medicines“.
“She was discharged from the hospital this morning and is taking part in a programme as pressed by workers, but she will return to the hospital immediately afterwards as she is not well,” she said.
Thakur defeated Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat in the general elections.
Thakur is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. In May this year, the court, which is conducting a trial against seven accused in the case, directed all of them to appear before it at least once a week.
The accused persons are facing trial under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They have been charged under UAPA Sections 16 (committing terror act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terror act).
- PTI
India’s stature in world has risen in the last five years, says Jaishankar
A large majority of people in India have recognised that the country’s stature in the world has risen in the last five years, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said here on Thursday.
Addressing a gathering at a seminar, Mr. Jaishankar said a “global rebalancing” is taking place and the “sharpest manifestation” of that is the rise of China and to an extent, the rise of India as well.
Amit Shah is undisputed No. 2 as Cabinet Committees are constituted
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after setting up two new Cabinet Committees — one for economic growth and investment and another for jobs and skills — also reconstituted five other Cabinet Committees. These include the Cabinet Committee on Appointments with just him and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The all-important Cabinet Committee on Security remains as before with Mr. Modi heading it, and with Mr. Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as members.
