Makes his resignation letter, sent to Rahul Gandhi last month, public. Cabinet ministers call the move a 'drama from the king of theatrics'
Navjot Singh Sidhu. File pic/AFP
Chandigarh: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been at loggerheads with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and was stripped off key portfolios in the cabinet reshuffle in June, has resigned from the state cabinet.
Sidhu took to Twitter on Sunday, making public his resignation letter, sent just four days after his portfolio was changed last month. The letter dated June 10 was addressed to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. In another tweet, Sidhu said he would be sending his resignation letter to the chief minister.
ADVERTISEMENT
On June 6, CM Amarinder Singh had divested Sidhu of the local government and tourism and cultural affairs departments and allotted him the power and new and renewable energy portfolio.
In an apparent snub, Sidhu, the Congress MLA from Amritsar East, was also left out of the consultative groups formed by the CM on June 8 to accelerate implementation of government's flagship programmes. Over a month after he was stripped of key portfolios, Sidhu had not taken charge of his new assignment, as a stalemate with the CM had continued.
The tension between Singh and his cabinet colleague had come out in the open last month when the CM blamed Sidhu for the "inept handling" of the local government department, claiming that it resulted in "poor performance" of the party in urban areas in the LS polls.
The CM said last month that the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's "failure" in carrying out any development work impacted the party.
Sidhu, however, had said that his department was being "singled out publicly" while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a "performer throughout".
The tension between Singh and Sidhu over a range of issues had come out in the public earlier too. The fact that Sidhu waited for over a month before making his resignation letter public indicated that he could have been waiting for reconciliation.
Punjab Cabinet ministers Brahm Mohindra and Charanjit Singh Channi criticised Sidhu for the "drama'. "This is nothing but drama from the king of theatrics. If he had to resign, he should have followed the protocol and sent it directly to the chief minister," the ministers said.
10 June
Day Sidhu submitted his resignation letter
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
