Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns as Punjab Cabinet Minister

Chandigarh, July 15: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned from Punjab Cabinet. In a tweet, Sidhu has said that he sent his resignation to Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi on June 10 and would send it to Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh also. Sidhu had been sulking after being stripped of key portfolios in the Punjab cabinet reshuffle in June.

 

On June 6, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had divested Sidhu of the Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments and allotted him the power and new and renewable energy portfolio.

In an apparent snub, Sidhu, the Congress MLA from Amritsar East, was also left out of the consultative groups formed by the chief minister on June 8, two days after the cabinet reshuffle, to accelerate the implementation of government's flagship programs.

Recently, Sidhu has not stepped in the office plus he is drawing the salary and enjoying perks of his office, says the BJP leader Tarun Chugh while writing a letter to Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore.

 

"I have written a letter to Punjab Governor. There is a constitutional crisis in Punjab today. It has been over a month since a minister who took the oath of office has been absent, even though he is drawing a salary and enjoying the perks of his office," says Chugh.

The BJP national secretary added that Governor must take action in the interest of the state as there is a "crisis" situation in the state.

"He has migrated; the feud between the Chief Minister and the minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has caused a constitutional crisis. I request the Governor to take action in Punjab's interest. If the minister does not want to work someone else should look after his department. If he is drawing a salary but not working, action should be taken," he said.