Sidhu’s tumultuous eight-month reign as Punjab Cong chief ends

Sidhu was among the five PCC chiefs asked to quit by AICC president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday. It did not matter, that the cricketer-turned-politician had, just a few day ago, ruled out his own resignation claiming that state election was fought with former CM Charanjit Channi as the party face and not him.
During Sunday’s CWC meeting, AICC’s Punjab incharge Harish Chaudhary had held Sidhu responsible for Congress debacle in Punjab. He had stated that Sidhu’s public utterances against Channi had damaged party’s prospects.

On Tuesday, Chaudhary reached Chandigarh and began his review meetings with party’s Assembly poll candidates. As many as 63 leaders he met separately are learnt to have blamed the infighting for the party’s crushing defeat. Chaudhary had met Channi and Sidhu before beginning these review meetings.

Among reasons cited for the party’s loss by candidates were ED raids on Channi’s nephew, PPCC chief Navjot Sidhu’s constant attack on Channi and former PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar’s utterances.

Many party leaders believe that Sidhu’s downfall to the point of losing his first election ever and now the PPCC chief’s post, which he won with party ignoring several dyed-in-wool Congressmen, began as he opened a front against several party leaders.

But it had started well for Sidhu in the Congress, which he joined just 17 days ahead of the 2017 state polls. Back then, he had addressed 70 rallies and was the most sought after leader of the party for election canvassing then.

Five years later, he was the Congress president hard-selling his Punjab Model amid his blow hot, blow cold ties with the party and its leaders.

Sidhu, who rose to the PPCC chief’s post on July 18 last year, was the face of revolt against then CM Amarinder Singh. While several Congress leaders sided with him in ensuring Amarinder’s ouster, they did not back him in the race to be the next CM or even the party’s CM face, despite Sidhu making his ambition evident.

As party picked Channi, a Dalit leader, over others, Sidhu in no time trained his guns against the new CM.
Within a few weeks of Channi taking over, Sidhu resigned abruptly as PPCC chief to protest against appointments of Advocate General and DGP. After his insistence, both the AG and DGP were removed and he withdrew his resignation later.

But this lull in the state unit was short-lived. Sidhu soon stepped up his campaign pushing the party to declare a CM face.

He openly attacked Channi, questioned his welfare announcements. While Sidhu kept telling party leadership, he won’t be a “show horse” during polls, he fell in line as the party declared Channi as its CM face.

On March 10 as the results rolled in, Sidhu failed to retain his Amritsar (East) seat and faced defeat at the hands of Aam Aadmi Party’s Jeevan Jyot Kaur — a polticial greenhorn — by a margin of 6,750 votes.
Even while he was with the BJP, his propensity to shoot his mouth off ensured he wasn’t popular among the party leadership in the state.