CM Amarinder, Asha Kumari behind denial of Lok Sabha ticket to me, alleges Navjot Kaur Sidhu

“Look, Amarinder Singh is our junior captain. Rahul Gandhi is our senior captain. Our junior captain has said he would win all 13 seats by himself," she said, indicating that she might not campaign for the party in the state.

FILE PIC: AFP

Chandigarh: The rift between Punjab Chief Minister Amardinder Singh and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu was out in the open ahead of the final phase of Lok Sabha polls. Sidhu’s wife Navjot has alleged that the chief minister and party general secretary in-charge for Punjab Asha Kumari ensured that she doesn’t get a ticket to contest from Amritsar. The Congress has pitted sitting MP Gurjit Singh Aujla against the SAD-BJP nominee Hardeep Singh Puri in Amritsar which was earlier represented by Sidhu while on three occasions while he was in the BJP. Navjot felt the reason she was refused a ticket was because of the Dussehra train tragedy last year in which more than 60 people were killed. “Captain Sahib and Asha Kumari think Madam Sidhu does not deserve an MP ticket. I was denied the ticket from Amritsar on the ground that I could not win in the aftermath of the Dussehra train tragedy in Amritsar last year, news agency PTI quoted her as saying which talking to reporters in Amritsar on Monday. Lashing out at Amarinder, she said the chief minister thought that he was alone capable of leading the party to victory in all 13 seats of Punjab. “Look, Amarinder Singh is our junior captain. Rahul Gandhi is our senior captain. Our junior captain has said he would win all 13 seats by himself," she said, indicating that she might not campaign for the party in the state. “Captain Sahib will do the campaigning. Asha Kumari is also a star campaigner. Sidhu sahib will go wherever Rahul asks him to go, the disgruntled Congress leader added. The chasm also grew after Navjot despite staking claim to the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat wasn’t given a ticket as the party chose former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal who has been a four-time MP from Chandigarh. Sidhu was also upset after he wasn’t allowed to speak druring Rahul Gandhi’s Moga rally on March 7. It remains to be seen whether Navjot Singh Sidhu who has again injured his vocal cords because of "continuous speech" in election rallies, will hold public meetings or not in the run-up to May 19. Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats will go to the polls in the last phase on May 19. Results will declared on May 23.