Sidhu-Capt face-off intensifies

| | Chandigarh
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Sidhu-Capt face-off intensifies

Saturday, 18 May 2019 | Monika Malik | Chandigarh

Days after the Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed the top leaders of SAD and the Congress of playing a friendly match for succeeding in Bathinda and Patiala constituencies, his words on Friday virtually found an echo in Congress star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu’s speech at the Badals’ home turf Lambi.

Fighting political foes, Sidhu virtually trained his guns at his party “friends” by talking about the “friendly match”. Without naming anyone, Sidhu asked the voters to step in and defeat the “politics of connivance”.

“I saw my mother in a dream today. She said, jholiya adniya band kar de, hun ta kehan da sama aa gaya, saada haq aithe rakh (Stop begging as it is time to stand up for your rights). They’ve ruined our honour. Bhajj 75:25 waleya, bhaj Badla bhaj....ke Sidhu aunda hai, kursi khaali kar (Run those having a share of 75:25, run Badal run....here comes Sidhu, vacate the chair). They are practising the politics of connivance and only you, the voters, can teach them a lesson,” said Sidhu while addressing a gathering at Arya Samaj Chowk in Bathinda in support of Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.

Sidhu’s “75:25” remark has left many wondering as in to whom he was referring to. “I would like to ask the people in Bathinda, who is bigger? Justice Ranjit Singh Commission or the SIT? Then why didn’t they lodge the FIR against the Badals?” he questioned.

Addressing a gathering in Lambi, Sidhu said: “Thok deyo ohna nu jihna ne be-adabi kiti. Jihna de 75:25 hisse, ohna nu vi thok deyo.”

By talking about the “friendly match”, Sidhu has backed Kejriwal’s assertion of an alleged pact between SAD president Sukhbir Badal and Capt Amarinder to ensure victory of each other’s wives from Bathinda and Patiala, respectively.

In another veiled reference to Capt Amarinder’s remark that he would resign if the Congress is “wiped out” in the election, Sidhu said: “Someone would resign if the party didn’t win election, but I say I would resign if the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib is not avenged.”

He declared, “I am here to avenge the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. I had earlier quit the Rajya Sabha and will not hesitate to resign from the Punjab cabinet if the Badals are not booked for the sacrilege.”

The development comes a day after Sidhu and Capt Amarinder entered into a conflict before the electoral battle over the issue of granting ticket to former MLA and Congress leader Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu.

Further straining the ties between Sidhu and Capt Amarinder, Dr Sidhu caused political ripples within the Congress by claiming that the move to field her from Amritsar was scuttled by the Chief Minister and state party affairs’ in-charge Asha Kumari — a claim backed by Sidhu maintaining that his wife would “not lie”.

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