What will be Sidhu's role in Punjab cabinet under the leadership of Capt Amrinder Singh

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New Delhi: Cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu’s recent meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at his farmhouse portends at the former getting ‘adjusted’ in the ministry or given a significant and authoritative post ahead of 2022 battle of the ballot in the state presumably to nip in the bud any possible rebellion or the voices of dissent in the party.

The reconciliation efforts between Sidhu and Amarinder Singh is a presumably a move to repair the acrimonious relations between the two, which was a result of Chief Minister cliping Sidhu’s wings by divesting him of Urban Local Body department in 2019 and giving him the charge of the ministry for Power and New Renewable Energy. 

This step had made Sidhu feel ‘demoted’ and humiliated by state power corridors and he not only started distancing himself from the CM but also tendered his resignation to the Congress president Rahul Gandhi which further irked Amarinder Singh. Sidhu’s rehabilitation process was set in motion after the appointment of Parshant Kishore as his election strategist. 

What position in the Captain Amarinder’s cabinet will the sulking Sidhu get in the last year of his government is a moot question?

Will Navjot Singh Sidhu again be given Urban Local Body ministry along with other portfolio’s and made head of a decision making body in the party or even the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee or the Deputy Chief Minister will be clear in near future but his supporters and fans want to see him back in an influential position, even though Sidhu in his tenure as minister has not delivered anything significant. In Fact, he has largely fought for fortifying his own position in the party. 

Even after the truce efforts made by Captain Amarinder Singh, maybe on the advice of his election strategist, Sidhu reacted with a snobbish tweet which read, “tinkae say halki rui, rui say halki mangnay wala admi, na apnay liyae manga tha , na manga hai aur na mangugna (cotton is lighter than straw, the man who asks for something is lighter than cotton, never asked anything for myself in past, nor asked now and will never ask in future).” 

The efforts from CM came even after Sidhu had been upsetting Amarinder’s government with his statements on several occasions and flaunting his relations with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. 

With the leadership of Gandhi sibling being challenged by G 23 leaders of Congress has only made Amarinder Singh stronger and weakened Sidhu’s bargaining position.