Sidhu does 'whatever he wants': Punjab CM commenting on his absence

Indian National Congress senior leader and the Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh addressing questions about Navjot Singh Sidhu’s absence from the Congress pre-election rally in Haryana where his name was on the list stated, “If he did not come, he did not come. Anyways, he does whatever he feels like.”

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'Sidhu did not want to do his job'

The statement made by the Punjab CM did not come as a surprise as barely a few months prior to this, when Sidhu tendered in his resignation, Captain Singh had reportedly stated there was nothing he could do as Sidhu did not want to do his job. He had stated then Sidhu should have accepted his new portfolio at the time, instead of shunning work in the middle of the crucial paddy season, the chief minister said, reiterating that Sidhu was given a job which he should have accepted and done. "If Sidhu doesn't want to do the job, there is nothing I can do about it," said Singh, questioning how a soldier can refuse a job assigned by the General. There has to be some discipline in the government if it is supposed to function effectively, the Chief Minister added. Navjot Sidhu had announced his resignation as Punjab Cabinet Minister, making public his June 10 resignation letter sent to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. 

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Sidhu's previous controversies

For many devout Sikhs, the defining moment of 2018 was the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor, which is all set to open, will finally provide access to a revered shrine across the border in Pakistan. But others were riveted to the sideshow as Kartarpur Sahib brought the simmering tension between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his flamboyant Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu out in the open. The Kartarpur corridor drama began with a hug. Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu received a lot of flak after he embraced Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa at the swearing-in of Imran Khan as that country's new Prime Minister. Even CM Amarinder Singh had condemned the gesture. Sidhu defended the hug in Islamabad, saying he got emotional after Bajwa told him about plans to open a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to Kartarpur Sahib, the shrine in Pakistan which marks the location where Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life. A few weeks later, Amarinder Singh, a former Army officer, declined the Pakistani invitation to attend the groundbreaking ceremony but ignoring his CM's advice, Sidhu went ahead.

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(INPUTS FROM ANI)