Congress leader and former cricketer, Navjot Singh Sidhu has finally been sidelined by the Congress party and the proof is the suspension of his campaigns. He has also been the talk of the town for his feud and uneasy truce with Punjab’s CM Captain Amarinder Singh. Yet, despite the reasons being clear, Navjot Singh’s wife, Navjot Kaur, is not ready to accept that Congress is more or less done with her and her husband. On 14th May, while addressing the media, Kaur held Amarinder Singh responsible for the ticket being denied by the party to her.
She said, “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,” adding to this she further said, “Captain Sahib will do the campaigning. Asha Kumari is also a star campaigner. Sidhu sahib will go wherever Rahul asks him to go.”
She went on to say that Amarinder Singh was the junior captain while Rahul Gandhi was the captain everyone had to abide by. Previously, Navjot Singh Sidhu was criticised by members of the party for making a similar comment which was a direct insult to Amarinder Singh.
Navjot Kaur has continuously criticised Amarinder Singh and also accused him for disrespecting women. She is still not over the fact that the Congress party has finally put her and her husband on the bench due to their conduct that drew controversies for the party. They however, still blame other people for their inability to carry out their duties in the party.
The fact that the couple cannot see eye to eye with Amarinder Singh is not new. The rift between Sidhu and Singh started after the Imran Khan controversy. His wife has stirred up another controversy by accusing the Punjab CM of being the cause of the fact that she has been refused the ticket. Earlier, Navjot Kaur Sidhu had staked claim to the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat but the party chose former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal over her as he has been a four-time MP from Chandigarh.
Congress has been subtle in their actions to remind the two leaders, Navjot Kaur and Navjot Singh that they were turning into liabilities for the party. Navjot Kaur’s conduct during the Amritsar Dussehra incident was highly criticised. She also lost the assembly elections after her insensitive reaction on the accident that killed so many people during the festive season. Navjot Kaur Sidhu arrived late at the event and the accident occurred as she was delivering her speech. When the accident occurred, she simply sped away from the venue instead of trying to help the victims and their grieving families. This was highly insensitive and irresponsible given the gravity of the tragedy that occurred during the event.
The couple is still living in the bubble that they are the star campaigners of the party and they deserve respect and acknowledgment from other members of the party. One thing that also troubles the two leaders is the growing popularity of Amarinder Singh which cannot be tarnished by them. The Congress party has realised that the couple is a liability which might cost Congress a great deal in the elections. The Sidhu couple has hence been dropped by Congress for various reasons. The troubled relations of Sidhu and Singh, Sidhu and his pro-Pakistan comments and his wife’s conduct, have forced the Congress to sideline both the leaders.