Punjab Polls: Amritsar Leaders 'Upset' with Sidhu but Close Aides Say 'Signal from Top' to Stay Away

In Punjab’s Amritsar East Constituency, where state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu is locked in a fierce battle with Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, the grand old party has entrusted Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu with handling the election campaign. Local leaders are “missing” from the campaign for the upcoming assembly elections, as they are reportedly upset that Sidhu did not confide in them while formulating a campaign strategy.

Sidhu’s aides, however, have denied the allegations and, in turn, blamed the local leaders for their “indifference” after the party declared incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief ministerial candidate.

Party sources said Sidhu’s campaign had failed to gain momentum due to these in-house differences. Bittu, who is also the chairperson of the party’s election management committee for Punjab, has been holding closed-door meetings with local leaders to persuade them to support Sidhu and other candidates.

In the Amritsar North constituency, sitting Congress MLA Sunil Dutti is also anguished over the apparent disinterest showed by local leaders in his poll campaign. Sidhu has been single-handedly canvassing in favour of Dutti as well.

“The local support for Sidhu is almost defunct. But he is the one who has chosen to ignore some local leaders and is facing backlash on that account. This has been conveyed to Bittu,” said a leader, who attended one of the closed-door meetings.

Bittu said he had tried convincing the leaders who were been supporting party candidates in the poll fray. He added that those who will not cooperate will have to face action.

Local leaders, meanwhile, are also seemingly disgruntled over Sidhu’s family members openly targeting Channi after he was chosen as the CM face. Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur had launched a direct attack on Channi, claiming that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had been “misled” during the process to choose the CM face. Sidhu’s daughter, too, has launched a vitriolic attack on Channi accusing him of being involved in illegal mining.

But leaders close to Sidhu presented a different picture. They claimed that the local leadership had started distancing themselves from Sidhu’s campaign ever since Channi was chosen as the CM candidate. “And it is not possible they are doing it as per their own wishes. There has to be a signal from the top to see to it that they don’t campaign for the PCC chief,” said a leader close to Sidhu.

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