Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is set to take up the issue of his Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu in the Delhi durbar.
In New Delhi for meeting several Union Ministers to discuss Punjab-related issues with the Centre, Capt Amarinder is expected to meet the party president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday evening.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi has not met the Chief Minister after 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while he had given a patient hearing to the former cricketer.
Even over a fortnight after the Cabinet reshuffle by the Chief Minister, Sidhu is yet to join his new Department, making the portfolio change an issue of prestige. Sidhu had, in fact, raised the issue with the party’s national president, who had appointed party veteran Ahmed Patel to resolve the issue between the two. However, nothing has changed since then.
The day results for 2019 General Elections were declared, Capt Amarinder gave enough indications to take away Local Government Department from Sidhu while dubbing him as the “non-performing” Minister and blaming him for party’s “not-so-good performance in the state’s urban pockets.
In the Cabinet re-jig that followed, Capt Amarinder divested Sidhu of the Local Government department, besides the Tourism and Cultural Affairs, while giving him the portfolio of Power and New and Renewable Energy. In rebel mode, Sidhu is yet to join the Department, and pinning his hopes on the high command to resolve the issue.
Sidhu has all along been defending his performance as the Local Government Minister with facts and figures, throwing an open challenge to the Chief Minister.
CM TO RAISE PUNJAB-SPECIFIC ISSUES WITH CENTRE
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is set to meet the Union Ministers on Thursday to raise the Punjab’s issues with them, first time after the Narendra Modi Government’s second tenure with mounting debt on state top on his agenda.
As per available information, Capt Amarinder is expected to meet Finance Minister Rajnath Singh, Food and Supplies Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Road and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, among others on Thursday.
It has been learnt that Capt Amarinder would raise the issue of more than Rs two lakh crore debt on the State, besides Rs 31,000 crore on food account. The state government has all along been urging the Centre to settle the Rs 31,000 crore debt.
With the Health Minister, Capt Amarinder is expected to raise the issue of new medical colleges expected to come up.
SIDHU — THE POWER MINISTER, ONLY ON NAMEPLATE
The cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has become the Power, New and Renewable Energy Minister, at least in the Punjab Civil Secretariat on Wednesday. Even as Sidhu is yet to assume his new charge, the nameplate outside his office in the secretariat has been changed from Local Government to Power. After Cabinet reshuffle on June 6, Sidhu has gone incommunicado, and staying away from the media.
