Punjab polls: Navjot Singh Sidhu`s charisma appears to be fading away?

Sidhu, who was `over`-confident to be the party high command`s first choice suffered a first major blow after Congress projected Charanjit Singh Channi as party`s CM face.

Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s charisma appears to be fading away with Congress high command giving him limited exposure outside Punjab, even skipping his name from the list of star campaigners in Uttarakhand which is going to poll on February 14.

Sidhu, who has made an emotional bond with millions of his fans with his personalistic attitude and stroke plays, is now largely confined in Amritsar East assembly constituency where he is pitted against ‘Majhae-da-Jarnail’, the all-powerful former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who is also the brother in law of Shiromani Akali Dal- Badal president and former  Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Following months of fawning over Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Sidhu, who was 'over-confident' to be the party high command’s first choice to be projected as Punjab Chief Minister (CM) face, suffered a first major blow after his name was dropped and Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi was made the party’s CM face.

Sidhu, who has been representing Amritsar both in Lok Sabha and Punjab assembly, and had been elections is now apprehensive of his victory from his home turf Amritsar East assembly constituency where Bikram Singh Majithia is giving him tough competition .

The moot question is why Sidhu, who till his appointment as Punjab Congress chief,  was considered a powerful leader with appealing personality now stands isolated?

While the Congress strategists and think tanks ponder over the question, Sidhu had been making quick visits to ‘Mata Vishno Devi’ seeking divine intervention and has also been reciting mantras during election rallies which have given an opportunity to his opponents to make memes on Sidhu to humiliate him.

The majority of party leaders in Punjab are hesitant to invite Sidhu, once a vote catcher for the party, to canvass in their assembly constituencies due to Sidhu’s aggressive speeches, and below the belt, remarks making his opponents say that they find it below their dignity to respond to Sidhu’s statements.