New Delhi: Navjot Singh Sidhu today tweeted a resignation letter dated 10 July that he had sent to Rahul Gandhi. In it, the Congress leader said he is resigning from the Punjab Cabinet. Sidhu addressed the letter to Rahul and wrote that he is resigning but did not mention any reason.
The cricketer-turned-politician has been an extremely controversial figure with political rivals repeatedly slamming him over a number of flip flops. His visits to Pakistan – first at the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan and then for the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Corridor – were also questioned. Here, he had hugged Pakistan Army Chief and had been photographed with a known Khalistani terrorist.
Many of Sidhu’s statements too had been extremely controversial – especially one he had made in the aftermath of a tragic train accident near Amritsar. He had also called for dialogue to be continued with Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the Pulwama attack which killed several CRPF personnel.
It is reported that he even had tiffs with Amarinder who, sources say, had been extremely unhappy with Sidhu even if he never openly admitted it.
What could have possibly triggered Sidhu to tender his resignation is that Amarinder had clipped his wings in a recent cabinet reshuffle. Sidhu was stripped of the Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs portfolios in a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month and been given Power, and New and Renewable Energy departments.
Amid mounting tensions between the two, there were also reports that senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had been entrusted to diffuse tensions.