Ajay Bhardwaj
Chandigarh

Is Navjot Sidhu a loose cannon in the Punjab cabinet of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh? Or is he playing to the gallery at the instance of the Congress high command? Rarely do we see a cabinet minister going against the agenda that a chief minister sets for the state? In the normal course, any cabinet minister defying the chief minister is either enjoying tacit support of the party high command against the wishes of the chief minister, or he is openly threatening the position and stature of the chief minister.Invariably such conflicts are confined within the states. But Sidhu is being far too definitive and assertive by charting a course in Indo-Pak relations which is diametrically opposite to what his chief minister has been espousing. Had it confined to verbal expressions, it might have still made some sense. But by crossing over the border within hours of the chief minister lambasting the Pakistan Army chief for perpetrating unabated violence on the border and in the hinterland of the country, Sidhu has demonstrated an open defiance to the chief minister.Of course, the party high command being quiet on the matter would make one believe that somewhere, perhaps, Sidhu enjoys the support of Rahul Gandhi. In that case, is the Congress trying to hijack the credit of materializing the dream of the Sikhs of going to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara? Either Amarinder or Sidhu is going against the AICC call. Who would be that? Or is the AICC playing both the cards together?

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