Punjab CM Channi Calls Cabinet Meet After Sidhu's Resignation, Oppn Parties Take A Dig

Punjab Government Cabinet Meet: The Punjab CM has called a cabinet meeting at 10:30 am to discuss the ongoing crisis in the party after Sidhu's resignation as PCC chief

Punjab CM has called for a cabinet meeting

New Delhi: While Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation on Tuesday evening came as a shocker to Gandhis and the entire party, his decision has plunged the party into a new crisis and according to ABP news sources Channi has been assigned the job to resolve the matter. The Punjab CM has also called a cabinet meeting at 10:30 am on Tuesday which is likely to discuss ways to convince Sidhu as the high command has not accepted his resignation yet.

Punjab ministers  Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Pargat Singh met Navjot Singh Sidhu a few hours ahead of the cabinet meeting.

Hours after Navjot Singh Sidhu stepped down as the Punjab Congress chief, four party leaders resigned from their respective posts in solidarity with the cricketer-turned-politician.

Razia Sultana resigned as the minister in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led the new cabinet in Sidhu’s support.

Congress leader Yoginder Dhingra resigned as the general secretary of the state party unit, while Gulzar Inder Chahal resigned as the treasurer of Punjab Congress.

Gautam Seth also stepped down as the general secretary (in-charge training) of Punjab Congress following Sidhu’s resignation, ANI reported.

The opposition leaders have got a chance to attack the grand old Congress party as it struggles to maintain stability in Punjab.

Throwing barbs at the ongoing political crisis, even the leaders within the Congress party have shown their disappointment on Sidhu's decision when the party had already announced that it will fight the upcoming Punjab assembly elections under the leadership of their newly elected state PCC chief.

This is how Congress leaders and opposition reacted to the recent political crisis in Punjab

Amarinder Singh

Capt Amarinder Singh who resigned from the position of Chief Minister a few weeks back amid the power tussle with Navjot Sidhu took the opportunity to reiterate his strong opposition to Sidhu's elevation as PCC chief and said that the cricketer-turned-politician is “unstable and incompetent" to run the state.

Sunil Jhakar

 Former Punjab Congress Chief Sanjay Jakhar on Tuesday said that the recent resignation of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Navjot Singh Sidhu shows the faith that the Congress high command had reposed on Sidhu being compromised. He further stated Tuesday's political development in Punjab as a "breach of trust."

It’s just not cricket! What stands compromised in this entire ‘episode’ is the faith reposed in the (outgoing?) PCC President by the Congress Leadership. No amount of grandstanding can justify this breach of trust placing his benefactors in a peculiar predicament," Sanjay Jakhar tweeted on Tuesday.

Aam Aadmi Party

The opposition AAP reacted to Sidhu's resignation and shared a video of MLA Raghav Chadha with the caption "now only AAP can save Punjab from the crisis".  The 2 minute video of Raghav Chadha attacks the ongoing crisis in Congress and he says that the party is not concerned about its people and is busy in politics.

Minutes after Sidhu resigned, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha reiterated his ‘Rakhi Sawant’ remark for Sidhu by retweeting an 11-day-old post on a social media platform. Chadha has earlier too faced huge backlash for his comment as many criticised him for being “sexist" and “misogynistic".

On September 17, Chadha had quote tweeted Sidhu’s video tweet and said, “The Rakhi Sawant of Punjab politics -Navjot Singh Sidhu- has received a scolding from Congress high command for a nonstop rant against Capt. Therefore today, for a change, he went after Arvind Kejriwal. Wait till tomorrow for he shall resume his diatribe against Capt with vehemence."

Bhartiya Janata Party

The BJP also took a swipe at the crisis, slamming Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s visit to Uttar Pradesh at a time her party faced a fresh crisis in Punjab. BJP UP mockingly asked whether it should arrange a ticket to Punjab for her.

"Priyanka Vadra ji, you have come to UP at the wrong time. It was time to go to Punjab. Should a ticket to Punjab be arranged?" the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP tweeted in Hindi.

BJP leader Sambit Patra also took swipes at the party in multiple tweets. In one tweet, Patra said before ‘the Students arrived, the Guru quit’. He also poked fun by reiterating Sidhu’s phrase ‘Chaa Gye Guru’ which he used in a TV show.