Sonia Gandhi makes Sidhu Punjab Congress chief amid dissent: A look at his political career

The Congress named cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu the Punjab Congress chief on Sunday night, bringing to an end weeks of hectic lobbying within the party rattled by infighting. For the 58-year-old whose Twitter handle is @sherryontopp, the promotion is indeed a cherry on top of his happening political career. It came as a peace formula by the Congress leadership, which appears to have focused on distribution of power between Sidhu and Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The Congress also appointed four working presidents for Punjab, which goes to polls next year. Sidhu’s elevation as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) may position him as a succeesor to Captain; it could give him the launchpad to float his chief ministerial bid some time in future, if his Congress party manages a victory in the 2022 Assembly election. Like he surmounted his initial failure in cricket and managed to get picked up in the 1987 World Cup squad, Patiala-born Sidhu refused to get knocked out by his political adversaries, including Captain himself. With a sulking Sidhu adamant for more promince in the Punjab unit, a series of meetings were held in Delhi involving the national leadership and, separately, Sidhu and Captain, who appeared to be at odds. Only time will tell how much Sidhu’s promotion will help the Congress and if the move would quell dissent. Punjab is a state the Congress would want to win in 2022 to remain politically relevant (it is one of the few states where the party holds power). And infighting will not help its cause. But enough drama took place before Sidhu’s promotion. New twists came even as his elevation appeared almost certain. On Saturday, Captain met Partap Singh Bajwa, sparking speculation that they had united against Sidhu’s proposed promotion (Captain and Bajwa have had their share of differences in the past). And on Sunday, Bajwa met Congress MPs from Punjab, while Sidhu met a section of party MLAs.  With parleys picking up pace, uncertainty loomed over when the final decision would come. Finally, it came on Sunday night, as Congress president Sonia Gandhi made her decision public through a press release.

Hon'ble Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has appointed Shri Navjot Singh Sidhu as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect. The party appreciates the contributions of outgoing PCC President, Shri Sunil Jakhar. pic.twitter.com/2lviyzwMuV

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 18, 2021

Sidhu, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, was known for giving a solid start to his side as a batsman, and it will be interesting to see how he manages to steer his new innings as the Punjab Congress president. For now, Round 1 goes to Sidhu, who was known for his aggressive batting. Sidhu has been at loggerheads with Captain, taking potshots at him over the alleged delay in justice in the 2015 desecration cases. The Congress high command have tried hard to work out a formula for Captain and Sidhu to co-exist peacefully. The Congress had set up a three-member panel, headed by the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to resolve the infighting in the Punjab Congress. Both Sidhu and Captain had met the three-member panel. Here’s a broad timeline of Sidhu’s political career: May 2004: After joining the BJP, Sidhu won a ticket from the Amritsar seat to contest the Indian general elections and won. December 2006: However, he had to resign from the Lok Sabha following a case of homicide in a road rage incident that happened in 1988. He then moved the Supreme Court, which suspended his sentence. The apex court,  suspending his sentence, observed: “The circumstances leading to the filing of the application for suspension of order of conviction need to be noticed. The appellant was a sitting Member of Parliament. Immediately after the pronouncement of judgment by the High Court, he resigned from the membership of the Lok Sabha. It is stated in the application that for maintaining probity and moral values in public life he resigned from the membership of the Lok Sabha after his conviction. However, he wants to remain in public life and, therefore, wants to contest the election again and face the electorate in the changed scenario.” February 2007: He won handsomely in the by-election held for the Amritsar parliamentary seat. April 2009: Sidhu contested the 2009 general elections from Amritsar and successfully retained it. April 2014: The former Indian cricketer left the Amritsar seat for Arun Jaitley in the 2014 general election. Jaitley lost to Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh. Sidhu refused to fight from any other seat. April 2016: Sidhu was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member by the BJP. July 2016: Sidhu resigned from the Rajya Sabha, but his negotiations with the Aam Aadmi Party to join the party were not fruitful. September 2016: Sidhu and Akali Dal MLA Pargat Singh and a few other leaders launched a new political front — Awaaz-e-Punjab. The Bains brothers — Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains — who were then Independent MLAs also joined the front. January 2017: Awaaz-e-Punjab did not survive long and Sidhu joined the Congress in January 2017. He contested the 2017 Punjab Assembly election from Amritsar East and won the election by a margin of 42,809 votes. Soon after, he became the Minister of Local Government, Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the Punjab government. 23 April 2019: The Election Commission banned Sidhu from campaigning for 72 hours for violating the Model Code of Conduct. Earlier the Commission had issued a notice to Sidhu for seeking votes on religion lines at a rally in Katihar district of Bihar. 14 July 2019: Sidhu tweeted out a copy of his resignation from the Punjab cabinet, and addressed it to Rahul Gandhi. Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore accepted Sidhu’s resignation. Soon after, Sidhu criticised the Punjab government’s handling of the sacrilege case. July 2021: Sidhu appointed PPCC president.