CM loyalists boycott Sidhu visit, expose factionalism

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 5

Two Doaba-based loyalists of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today chose to boycott the visit of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu to their respective constituencies. The development has exposed simmering factionalism in the state Congress.

Sidhu today visited Seechewal village in Shahkot. Congress leader Hardev Laddi, who had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly elections from Shahkot, did not join him.

Laddi said there was no intimation about the visit from the minister and it was the local SDM who informed him at the last minute.

Sidhu was to visit Sultanpur Lodhi, but MLA Navtej Cheema took a stand against him, saying the minister had not informed him about the visit on time. “The minister was visiting our constituencies for the first time. He should have shared the schedule of his visit with us at least a day in advance. We will ask the CM to tell the ministers to keep us in loop about their visits,” the duo maintained.

Interacting with the media at Seechewal village, Sidhu said: “I had come to see Cheema to plan Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th birth anniversary event.” Since Cheema did not take his calls, Sidhu had to drop his visit to Sultanpur Lodhi at the last minute.

Meanwhile, the minister said the number wards had been increased in all major cities and a notification would be issued by the end of this month. Wards in Patiala have been raised to 60 from 50, Amritsar 85 from 65, Ludhiana 90 from 70 and Jalandhar 75 from 60.