This is not cricket, says ex-Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Navjot Sidhu

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, September 28

Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar said Tuesday’s political developments saw the faith that the Congress leadership had reposed in the new Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Navjot Singh Sidhu being “compromised”.

Jakhar, who had remained largely silent on Tuesday as the drama unfolded in the Punjab unit of the Congress, said Sidhu’s resignation from his position was a breach of trust.

“It’s just not cricket! What stands compromised in this entire ‘episode’ is the faith reposed in the (outgoing?) PCC President by the Congress Leadership. No amount of grand standing can justify this breach of trust placing his benefactors in a peculiar predicament,” Jakhar, who was the PPCC chief until Sidhu took over in July, said in a tweet.

Sidhu wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday saying he was resigning as Punjab Congress chief—a position he had won after much wrangling and power tussle within the Punjab unit in July.

Sidhu’s resignation letter said he could not compromise on the future of Punjab, although it did not explain what that meant. Sources in the Congress however have claimed that Sidhu was unhappy with some recent appointments in the state—including some ministers who were inducted into the newly reorganized Punjab Cabinet and the most recent appointment of APS Deol as Punjab’s advocate general.