Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 12

Protesting against the party MLA’s unwarranted belligerence against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, more Punjab cabinet ministers on Wednesday joined state Congress leaders seeking strong disciplinary action by the party high command against Navjot Sidhu.

Sidhu’s provocative and targeted attacks on Amarinder over the past several days were an invitation for disaster for the Congress, said Balbir Sidhu, Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, not ruling out a collusion between Sidhu and state opposition parties, such as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It was quite possible, they said, that Sidhu’s targeted attacks on the Chief Minister were instigated by the AAP or BJP leaders to create problems in the Punjab Congress to further their electoral agenda in the state.

In a joint statement, two days after three of their colleagues had also launched a counter-offensive against Sidhu, these four ministers said the Congress MLA’s verbal assaults on Amarinder on sacrilege and other issues amounted to open rebellion against the party. “He should be immediately suspended, if not expelled, as his continued presence in Punjab Congress was creating a mess in the party’s state unit and diverting its attention from the more important task of gearing up for the polls,” they added.

“He is nothing but a trouble-maker whose contribution to the Congress and the state government in Punjab in all these years has been virtually nil,” the ministers said.

Citing Amarinder’s open challenge to Sidhu to contest against him from Patiala instead of raving and ranting against him publicly, the ministers said the MLA should quit the Congress and should contest against the CM.