Congratulatory hoardings for Navjot Singh Sidhu dot Jalamdhar

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 19

A day after Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed as the PPCC president, hoardings bearing congratulatory messages were put up at various important intersections in the city.

All important intersections, including Skylark Chowk, Guru Nanak Mission Chowk and BMC Chowk, had hoardings installed by the national spokesperson of Youth Congress and his loyalist Gautam Seth. Parts of Jalandhar Cantt constituency represented by MLA Pargat Singh, who has been closely associated with Sidhu, also had hoardings bearing a similar message.

As Sidhu had come to the city last evening, he met just two out of four Congress MLAs. While he visited the house of MLA Bawa Henry, along with Pargat Singh and ex-MP Mahinder Singh Kaypee, he had skipped meeting other MLAs. Jalandhar Central MLA Rajinder Beri is learnt to have been invited at Henry’s house for the meeting but he reportedly did not turn up.

There was a buzz that Sidhu could pay visit to Jalandhar West MLA Sushil Rinku to congratulate him as he got blessed with a child after 15 years, but he chose not to. Sidhu and Rinku have not been seeing eye to eye as both had got on loggerheads during Sidhu’s tenure as Local Bodies Minister. Shahkot MLA Hardev Laddi who resides in city and Chaudhary Surinder Singh from Kartarpur also did not catch up with Sidhu yesterday.

Rohan Sehgal, a councillor, who have been supporting Pargat, have been using social media to express their excitement over Sidhu’s elevation. There, however, has been a mixed reaction from the city in support of Sidhu so far.

As Sidhu is expected to visit Doaba again tomorrow morning, there is a possibility of some more meetings with the MLAs of the area.

Navjot Sidhu to visit Khatkar Kalan today

The newly-appointed president of Punjab Congress, Navjot Singh Sidhu, will visit Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, on Tuesday, where he will pay obeisance to the martyr at 9.30 in the morning. Nawanshahr MLA Angad Singh said the appointment of Sidhu as the Congress president has created excitement among party leaders.