CM Amarinder one-ups Sidhu as ministers & posters back Captain in war for Punjab Congress

A war of hoardings continued between the camps of Punjab CM Captain Armainder Singh & Navjot Singh Sindhu as yet another hoarding backing Captain to lead Congress for the 2022 Assembly elections surfaced on Wednesday. Hoardings backing Captain Amarinder Singh to lead the grand old party for the upcoming polls have emerged in parts of Amritsar even as the Congress panel is yet to file its report on the internal tussle between Captain's camp and team Sidhu. 

Posters of MLA Navtej Singh Cheema advocating Captain Amarinder Singh to be the face of the Congress in the 2022 Assembly elections were seen in various parts of the former's constituency Sultanpur Lodhi on Wednesday. The hoardings backing Captain Amarinder Singh are surfacing even as Navjot Singh Sidhu's camp has maintained silence after the Congress panel's meeting with the Ministers & MLAs concluded. It will take 3-4 days for this report to come out, Mallikarjun Kharge said. However, it has already been established that the Congress high-command has assured Captain Amarinder Singh about his position as Punjab CM and wants to elevate Sidhu to Deputy CM. It is unknown, however, if this will extend to the upcoming Punjab elections.

Punjab Health Minister backs Captain as Congress' face for elections

Meanwhile, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu threw his weight behind Captain Amarinder Singh to lead the party in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. Balbir Singh Sidhu advocated CM Amarinder Singh to lead Congress for the polls and noted that there was only 'one Captain' for Punjab. Sidhu has been a staunch supporter of Captain Amarinder Singh in the ongoing internal tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu. 

Navjot Singh Sidhu VS Captain Amarinder Singh

Last Friday, CM Captain Amarinder Singh met with the 3-member panel in Delhi and held a virtual meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. After the meeting, the CM refused to divulge details of the meeting, but had said, "We all are getting ready to face state polls". Meanwhile, Sidhu who had earlier met with the same panel had said, "I came here to convey the voice of the people from the grassroots in Punjab. My stance has been, is, and will remain that the democratic power which goes to the government and financial power which goes to the government in the form of taxes should go back to the people. Truth can be suppressed but not defeated."

After a tumultuous spat with CM Captain Amarinder Singh during the Lok Sabha elections, Sidhu had sent his resignation on June 10 to the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and tweeted about the same a month later. On June 6, Sidhu was given the power and new and renewable energy portfolio and was divested of the ministry of Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments. While he tendered his resignation as Punjab minister, the cricketer-turned-politician later confirmed that he will remain with the Congress.

Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the Punjab Chief Minister after he denied Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. He and his wife have publicly attacked the Punjab CM repeatedly during the election campaign. He later patched up with CM Amarinder Singh over an informal lunch, but it seems to have gone awry as Sidhu began to attack the CM again after the Punjab & Haryana HC quashed the SIT probe into the 2015 firing cases on April 9. He has targeted the CM for not acting against key Shiromani Akali Dal leaders in the same case.