CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh met his former Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu over tea around 40 minutes at the chief minister’s farmhouse near Chandigarh on Wednesday evening.
Sources in the Congress said Sidhu was set to be reinducted in the Punjab Cabinet, almost two years after he resigned in July 2019 soon after the Lok Sabha elections, apparently in protest over being stripped of the coveted local government portfolio.
There are indications that Amarinder may go in for a Cabinet reshuffle next week and a formal announcement on Sidhu’s re-induction into the Cabinet could be held back till then.
Sports minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, who was also present at the meeting, later told TOI, “It was a warm and affectionate meeting. I could feel that there was no ill-will between the two leaders, both of whom happen to hail from Patiala, Various things were discussed but there was no talk of Sidhu’s appointment or reshuffle. Sidhu is committed to the Congress party, the CM and the Gandhi family, something that he has been saying.”
Even as there was no word from either side, party insiders said Sidhu may either have the local bodies department restored to him or he could get additional departments like agriculture (presently with the CM), along with the power ministry.
‘No specific depts discussed at meeting’
However, official sources continued to deny that any specific departments were discussed during the meeting. Earlier, Amarinder and Sidhu had met over lunch in November last year, after sustained efforts by Harish Rawat, party incharge of Punjab affairs, to make both sides bury the hatchet and break the ice ahead of the next Assembly elections due in 2022.
Party sources added that the attempts to bring back Sidhu onto the centre stage by making him end his self-imposed exile have gathered pace ever since Sidhu met Sonia Gandhi last month and there was been talk of party’s central leadership conveying its keenness to have an ‘active role’ for Sidhu in the coming months. Earlier, there has been talk of Sidhu being brought back as the Congress state president, but it was believed that the CM was not enthused about the proposal. CM’s media adviser Raveen Thukral shared a photograph of the two meeting with a caption, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’
Time for ministers to perform is over now: Navjot Kaur
Ahead of the Amarinder-Sidhu meeting, Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu told media persons that had Sidhu been after positions, he would have rather been in the BJP government’s Union Cabinet. Asked to comment about talk of local bodies portfolio being restored to Sidhu, his wife said, “That time is now gone. Now there is no time to perform. It’s time for people to assess the performance of the ministers… Both of us are here to work for the welfare of the people. He will take up a position where he can make a difference in the lives of people.” Navjot Kaur was named president of the women’s wing of the All India Jat Mahasabha on Wednesday.