Navjot Singh Sidhu on continuing with Kapil Sharma's show: What I do at night is no one's concern

After cricketer-turned-politician and newly-appointed Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu landed himself into a controversy by announcing that he will continue to appear in the popular show Comedy Nights with Kapil, he defended himself by saying that what he does at night should be no one’s concern. [caption id=“attachment_3346704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Navjot Singh Sidhu. PTI[/caption] Reacting to the issue, Sidhu insisted his TV shows will not interfere with his Cabinet responsibilities. “I have no liquor, sand mining or transport business like former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. I earn a living through TV shows and I will be in Chandigarh from Monday to Thursday and in Amritsar from Friday to Sunday. What I do at night should not be anyone’s concern. I will take first flight back to Punjab after TV shoots in Mumbai,” PTI quoted him as saying. Sidhu, a front runner for the post of deputy chief minister, was given a rather lightweight department to look after. He has been made minister of tourism and culture, and local bodies in the new Congress government. As he invited criticism for saying he will continue to appear on the show, his wife and former state legislator Navjot Kaur Sidhu came out in his support. In a Facebook post, Kaur on Sunday said her family had no other source of income but television, and undue hype was being created over the issue.

Sidhu, a cricketer-turned-politician, served as Amritsar MP thrice when he was with the BJP. Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will seek legal opinion on whether his minister Sidhu can continue as a celebrity-judge on the show. He told a TV news channel that he will ask the advocate-general to give his opinion on Sidhu’s continuation as a celebrity-judge on the show. “I do not know what the Constitution or the law says on this matter. We will have to ask our advocate-general to give us an opinion whether a person who is a minister can do what he wants to do.” “It will entirely depend on legal opinion and then I will bring it to Navjot Singh Sidhu’s notice. Frankly, I do not know whether it is a conflict of interest. Once I get an opinion from them (advocate-general and legal experts), I will have a chat with him,” Amarinder told the channel. With inputs from PTI