Sidhu-Amarinder far away even after passing: Sitting side by side for one and a half hours, but neither talked nor saw; Distances clearly visible in the program of Sidhu’s coronation

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu sit on stage at the coronation ceremony of party’s new President Navjot Sidhu at Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the new President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, formally assumed his responsibility on Friday. Apart from Sidhu, the four executive heads Kuljit Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh and Pawan Goyal were also crowned at the ceremony held at the Punjab Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also attended the program, but the distance between him and Sidhu was clearly visible.

In the program that lasted for one and a half hours, the captain and Sidhu were sitting side by side on the stage, but there was no talk between the two nor did they see each other. Not only this, the Captain mentioned Sidhu and his family in his address, Sidhu did not even mention the name of the Captain in his speech.

In this program, besides Harish Rawat, in-charge of Punjab Congress, most of the party MLAs, state government ministers, former chief ministers, former party chiefs and other big leaders were also present. All the leaders including Captain Amarinder Singh, his wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur and former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal had already sat on the stage but Sidhu came late by about 15 minutes.

Sidhu did the action of hitting fours and sixes in his style as soon as he climbed the stage. Then shaking hands with some of the leaders sitting in the first row, while hugging some, reached their chair. At that time, Captain Amarinder Singh, sitting next to his chair, looked at Sidhu but Sidhu completely ignored him. Sidhu neither looked at the captain nor shook hands with him.

Sidhu remained seated in his chair in the ceremony of coronation which lasted from quarter to one in the afternoon. The captain turned his eyes towards Sidhu once or twice but Sidhu did not consider it necessary to pay attention. The Captain, who came to deliver the speech after the state in-charge Harish Rawat, mentioned the relationship between him and Sidhu’s father and said that he had known Navjot since childhood. His entire family has been a Congressman and he has learned politics from Sidhu’s father.

Once it felt as if the captain was taking the initiative to normalize relations by leaving bitterness, but Sidhu, who took over the mic after the CM, did not even mention the captain in his speech. Sidhu touched the feet of former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former state head Lal Singh sitting on the stage but did not even look at the captain. After the speech, Sidhu went straight to his chair and sat down.

In Punjab Bhawan too, Sidhu ignored the Captain
Earlier, at 10 am on Friday morning, a tea program was organized for MLAs-Ministers and other leaders on behalf of CM Captain Amarinder Singh at Punjab Bhawan. Captain Amarinder Singh and all other leaders of the state were present in this, but Sidhu came here too late. Sidhu reached to meet the Captain at around 11.40 pm and after greeting said that he had gone to Ardas, so he was late.

After this, Congress’s state in-charge Harish Rawat and other leaders somehow persuaded Sidhu to sit near the Captain. When Sidhu sat on the chair next to the captain, the captain showed him the clock and said that he had come late. After this, the captain tried to call Sidhu once or twice but he did not answer.