Amid tussle with Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Sidhu meets Rahul, Priyanka

The meeting comes days after he was divested of key portfolios in a cabinet rejig and handed over the Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources Department, which the minister refused to join.

New Delhi: In the wake of on-going tussle with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, state Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is likely to resign from the post. Sidhu, who left BJP to join Congress, met party President Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday morning. Commenting on his next move, the leader said that he would take the final call after his meeting with party head (Rahul Gandhi). The meeting comes days after he was divested of key portfolios in a cabinet rejig and handed over the Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources Department, which the minister refused to join. Amid a tussle with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Sidhu was stripped of his local government, tourism and cultural affairs portfolios in the Punjab cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle, in which portfolios of most ministers were changed, took place hours after Sidhu skipped a cabinet meeting. Instead, he chose to address the media at his official residence.

Met the congress President, handed him my letter, appraised him of the situation ! pic.twitter.com/ZcLW0rr8r3

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) June 10, 2019

Sidhu had said that his department was "singled out publicly" for the Lok Sabha loss, asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a "performer throughout". He refuted allegations that the party performed poorly in Punjab's urban areas, saying, “Of the 69 assembly segments where it won, 34 were urban”. On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Aman Arora congratulated Sidhu for becoming the power minister, urging him to review three power purchase agreements with private thermal power plants signed by the previous SAD-BJP government.