Highlights
CHANDIGARH: Navjot Singh Sidhu may have changed his playing pitch from cricket to politics, with commentating and comedy thrown in for good measure in between, but if there's one thing that remains constant, it's his inability to be a good team player and get along well with his captains.
Sidhu was stripped of local government and tourism and cultural affairs ministries after his absence from the cabinet meeting called by Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday. This is the second consecutive cabinet meeting Sidhu has skipped. Sidhu will now have to be content with power and new and renewable energy resources.
The walk man
While Sidhu may have made his name as a decent batsman, he achieved eternal fame and notoriety with his infamous walkout from the Indian cricket team during their tour to England in 1996. His grouse? Alleged persecution and misbehaviour by the team captain Mohammad Azharuddin which was later attributed to a communication gap between the two. Incidentally, both are now members of the Congress party.
The disgruntled man
Sidhu's political problems started with the denial of a BJP ticket to re-contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar in 2014, when the party replaced him with Arun Jaitley — who eventually lost to Capt Amarinder Singh. Sidhu, who did not campaign for Jaitley even though he waxed the usual political homilies of being a loyal soldier to the party, ultimately quit the BJP and joined the Congress in 2017. This, after he had been nominated by the BJP, then headed by Amit Shah, to the Rajya Sabha. His current tiff with his CM — a retired Captain of the Indian Army — is also due to an alleged denial of Lok Sabha election ticket for his wife, also named Navjot.
Meanwhile, there's more trouble for the Congress down south in Telangana where 12 party MLAs joined the TRS and sought to merge the legislative party with the TRS. This brings the strength of the Congress Legislative Party to 6 in the 119-member assembly. Since the 12 MLAs constitute two thirds of the Congress legislative party, they will not attract the provisions of the anti-defection law.
Sidhu was stripped of local government and tourism and cultural affairs ministries after his absence from the cabinet meeting called by Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday. This is the second consecutive cabinet meeting Sidhu has skipped. Sidhu will now have to be content with power and new and renewable energy resources.
The walk man
While Sidhu may have made his name as a decent batsman, he achieved eternal fame and notoriety with his infamous walkout from the Indian cricket team during their tour to England in 1996. His grouse? Alleged persecution and misbehaviour by the team captain Mohammad Azharuddin which was later attributed to a communication gap between the two. Incidentally, both are now members of the Congress party.
The disgruntled man
Sidhu's political problems started with the denial of a BJP ticket to re-contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar in 2014, when the party replaced him with Arun Jaitley — who eventually lost to Capt Amarinder Singh. Sidhu, who did not campaign for Jaitley even though he waxed the usual political homilies of being a loyal soldier to the party, ultimately quit the BJP and joined the Congress in 2017. This, after he had been nominated by the BJP, then headed by Amit Shah, to the Rajya Sabha. His current tiff with his CM — a retired Captain of the Indian Army — is also due to an alleged denial of Lok Sabha election ticket for his wife, also named Navjot.
Meanwhile, there's more trouble for the Congress down south in Telangana where 12 party MLAs joined the TRS and sought to merge the legislative party with the TRS. This brings the strength of the Congress Legislative Party to 6 in the 119-member assembly. Since the 12 MLAs constitute two thirds of the Congress legislative party, they will not attract the provisions of the anti-defection law.
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