Punjab must come back to ‘real issues’ that concern every Punjabi: Navjot Singh Sidhu

PTI, Oct 24, 2021, 1:20 PM IST

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday said the state must “come back” to its real issues that concern every Punjabi and future generations. He asserted that he will not let the real issues take a back seat.

Sidhu’s assertion comes amid the ongoing war of words between several Congress leaders from Punjab with former chief minister Amarinder Singh over the latter’s friendship with Pakistani journalist Aroosa Alam.

“Punjab must come back to its real issues that concern every Punjabi and our future generations…. How will we counter the financial emergency that stares upon us? I will stick to the real issues and not let them take a back seat!” Sidhu tweeted.

During his recent meeting with senior Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Harish Rawat in Delhi, Sidhu had raised his concerns over the 18-point agenda taken up by the leadership on which actions are yet to be taken. The agenda includes action against those guilty in the 2015 sacrilege cases and the drugs mafia.

He had said the people of Punjab demand justice for the 2015 police firing at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot following the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib during the previous SAD-BJP regime.

On the drugs issue, he had written, “The big fish mentioned in the STF report must immediately be arrested and given exemplary punishment.” The other issues flagged by him in the letter included illegal mining of sand and its transport. Substantiating this in a tweet on Sunday, Sidhu said the choice was clear between “irreparable damage and the last chance for damage control”.

“The choice is clear between irreparable damage and the last chance for damage control…. Who will bring back state’s resources to the state’s coffers, instead of them going to private pockets?? Who will lead the initiative for resurrection our great state to prosperity,” he tweeted.

In his letter to Gandhi, Sidhu had also flagged the issues which the government “must deliver upon” and that it was the poll-bound state’s “last chance for resurrection and redemption”.

“Let the mist clear, reality shine like the sun upon the roadmap for revival of Punjab, shunning those who protect the selfish vested interests and focus only on the path that will lead to Jittega Punjab, Jittegi Punjabiyat and Jittega Har Punjabi (triumph of Punjab, Punjabiyat and Punjabis)!” read his third tweet on Sunday.

Sidhu has pitched for a “Punjab Model” with a 13-point agenda and he wants them to be part of the Congress manifesto for the 2022 assembly elections.

Miffed with the appointment of the new Punjab Police chief and the advocate general besides some portfolio allocations in the Charanjit Singh Channi cabinet, Sidhu had on September 28 announced his resignation as the state unit chief of the Congress.

On October 15, he said his concerns had been resolved following a meeting with party leader Rahul Gandhi. On the other hand, the party had asserted that he would continue as the head of the state unit.

Punjab will go to polls early next year.